X Never Marks the Spot
by Keefer
Summary: AU: Atlantis Castiel is a linguistic teacher who follows the journal his grandfather finds to the city of Atlantis
1. In the beginning

**A/N: I don't own Supernatural or Disney. If I did I would be lying back on a beach somewhere sun tanning, not serving food to ungrateful little bastards at camp. **

**This Fic was inspired, but not based off of LJ artmetica Firdaus. Key word is inspired. Link here because I don't know what else to do:**

** artmetica . livejournal 34549 . html (remove spaces)**

1914

Castiel ran down the hall, papers falling from his arms with every stride of his legs. He barely registered the falling sheets, the small voice in his head reminding him that Sam would pick them up. Castiel was late, again. It was his third proposal this week and he was sure that the council wasn't going to put up with his "mindless delusions" anymore. Castiel knew that this was probably going to be his last chance to try to sell his "delusions" to the board, and they were going to be very closed minded about it. No one was willing to put his name on the line for some young professor with a mindless fantasy about another world. The only person that had faith in Castiel was following after him, picking up any scrap of paper that fell.

Castiel burst through the wide wooden doors, his glasses askew on his face. Pushing them back on the proper place on his nose Castiel paused, taking a deep breath, and walked briskly to the front to the board, eyes following him the entire time. Sam puttered behind him, laying all the fallen papers down with the ones that had some how managed to remain in Castiel's arms. Giving Sam a nod, Castiel turned to face the men in front of him. The stares were colder than ice, sliding down from their up turned noses. Castiel swallowed, shuffled his notes and then started.

"As many of you know, Plato once spoke of the lost city of Atlantis-" Castiel had barely gotten started when the sound of a throat being cleared interrupted him.

"Castiel, we all know why you are here. And the answer is still no." Zachariah was the head of the board; he had been for the past twenty years. His word was law, and no one tried to argue it.

"If you would, I have some new information that might be of interest-" Castiel tried again but was once again interrupted.

"There is nothing that you might say that will change our minds. Castiel, this university is not going to fund your little escapade to the arctic. Your grandfather tried it and look at how that ended for him. You know how it ended for the university. We have just gotten our reputation back; we are not about to squander it on another fruitless exhibition." Zachariah was smiling by the end of his speech, knowing what his words where doing to Castiel.

"The exhibition would not be to the arctic. If you would listen to me, I was going to say-" Castiel was not going to give up, but Zachariah would hear none of it.

"Castiel, speak one more time and you will not be welcome at this university. Now, go back to your class and take your…" Zachariah sent a look over to Sam, "…helper, back with you." That was his final word, and he nailed the proverbial coffin shut as he rose, picking up his briefcase and walking out of the room, the other members of the board following him out.

Castiel groaned, leaning his head against the podium in front of him, his head hitting with a sickening crack. He felt Sam's hand touch his shoulder, the comfort in the gesture remaining in the hand, not quite reaching to Castiel.

"Don't worry Mr. Novak, we will convince them yet." Sam removed his hand and went to collect the papers, organizing them and setting them straight.

Castiel turned to the boy, his anger finally coming out. "Where you not in the same room as I? The board is not going to hear us again. I will lose my job if I ever bring the subject up again. Go back to your classes Sam, we are done."

Sam put the papers that were in his hands down, turning to Castiel and fixing him with a burning stare. "No Mr. Novak. I will not just give up on your dream. If the board will not hear you, maybe I can convince them."

Castiel shook his head hard, "No Sam. I am not going to let you give up your future for something that is probably not even real. If my grandfather was unable to find the lost city, what makes me think that I would be able to do it?"

Sam left the papers on the table and walked over to Castiel, putting his hands on his shoulders and staring down into his eyes, "You have information that your grandfather never had, you know the true location of Atlantis, your grandfather was looking in the wrong continent. You know where to start, something he never had. If this university will not listen, we can always go to another one. Your reputation hasn't become that tarnished yet."

Castiel sighed, this boy was stubborn to a fault and it was refreshing. "Alright Sam. We shall try another university, but not until this semester is over. Your schooling is far to important for you to throw it away on a foolish whim."

A smile broke across Sam's face, he knew that Castiel would keep every promise that he made, and he would never let him down. Grabbing the papers off of the table Sam left the room with Castiel trailing behind, making a beeline to Castiel's office before he went to his classes.

As the two men left the room a pair of eyes followed them, the green almost glowing in the shadows of the room. This was an interesting turn of events, and the man was not about to let Castiel slip out of his grasp. Turning the eyes disappeared into the shadows, slowly getting pulled into the darkness of the room.


	2. Once upon a strange meeting

**A/N: I decided to be nice and post another chapter this week. Got to get this story moving somehow. **

**Oh, and I don't own Supernatural or Disney. I cry every time I say that.**

Later that night Castiel found himself sitting at his desk, the bulb from his desk lamp was the only source of light in the room, the surrounding darkness creeping in, the fingers of light fighting off the thickness of the shadows. Castiel looked up from his work for a second, pausing to look at the photo that stared at him everyday that he worked at the university. It was a small photo, the only one of him and his grandfather that he had left. A small sad smile creped across Castiel's face, it was painful to see the source of all his memories, the good and the bad.

Many people said that Castiel had grown up to be the spitting image of his father, James Novak. Castiel had no idea whether that was true or not, his father and mother had died when he was young, a random mugging in an alley way gone wrong. He was sent to live with his grandfather right away, there was no one else left. The earliest memory of his grandfather was of a blonde man with a full beard smiling down on him, his face the sun, shining with a radiating joy that could not be diminished. Over the years the blonde in his hair faded, but the radiating joy never left, it was the only constant in their lives, the only thing that remained while everything else changed or disappeared.

It was exactly ten years to the day that his grandfather had gone missing, Castiel had been fourteen years old when he got the news that his grandfather had disappeared from the exhibition he had been leading to Ireland. He had been looking for a text that would lead someone right to the lost city of Atlantis, it was his grandfathers dream to see the city it all its glory, but he never got to. His dream died along with him, Castiel was the only hope that his dream would stay alive, and today shattered that dream.

Castiel could only think on the disappointment he could hear in his grandfather's voice, the low tones of his voice echoing in his mind. _No Castiel, of course I am not disappointed; you tried your best. Sometimes there is nothing you can do; sometimes you just lose._ Castiel stroked the frame of the picture, a deep seeded guilt settling in his gut.

Not only did he disappoint his grandfather, he disappointed Sam. The young boy had put all his faith in his teacher and Castiel had failed him. Sam had come to him after hearing about Castiel from one of his friends. Sam had been studying to become a lawyer before he met Castiel. His friend Brady had been in one of Castiel's linguistic classes when he mentioned Atlantis. Brady had come back to Sam talking about this crazy teacher that he had, and Sam's interest had been peaked. He came to Castiel the very next day and switched his classes around for the nest semester right after. Sam still was becoming a lawyer, but he was now taking extra linguistic classes on the side, adding an extra year to his studying. Castiel had never seen someone take to linguistics so fast, Sam was one of his best students, and he had years less experience than his other students.

Shaking his head, Castiel put the photo back down and turned back to the shield that he was studying. The translation of the shield was his new proof that he was going to show the board that afternoon; he had gone over the translation on the shield and found an error that had been previously missed. His grandfather had translated the base word to be "Ireland" while Castiel found it be actually "Iceland". One simple letter was the reason that his grandfather was dead and Castiel was alone in the world.

"Castiel." The voice brought Castiel out of his thoughts, startling him, making his pencil skid across his paper drawing a deep line across his translations. Looking up Castiel scanned the room, looking for the source of the voice.

"Who's there?" There was nothing but darkness, but that was no measure of assurance. Castiel could barely make out the shape of the bookshelf ten feet away from him. When the form emerged from the darkness Castiel took a deep inhale. The man coming out of the black was stunning; his dark brown hair was slicked back against his head, his green eyes drilling into Castiel. The man was not that much taller than Castiel, but his presence made Castiel feel smaller than he was.

"My name is Michael, and I am here due to the request of my employer. You are to come with me." Michael stepped back into the shadows, not even giving Castiel a chance to respond.

In a mind-numbing blur Castiel was brought to a mansion, one that could only be described as a castle. He found himself standing in a huge room lined with bookshelves and ancient texts from around the world. Castiel froze in the middle of the room, his mouth open in awe. The history that was surrounding him was enough to make any person stunned. Castiel was shocked out of his stupor when Michael shoved him from the back.

"You are not to say anything to Mr. Collins. You are to speak when spoken too and do not use long sentences, just get right to the point." Giving Castiel a shove in the back Michael pushed him farther into the room. "And don't worry. He only has the power to ruin your career."

Castiel slowly walked farther into the room, his eyes roaming over the items lining the walls. One caught his attention as he walked past it. _Was that a Gutenberg-?_

"Castiel!" Castiel turned to where the voice was coming from and was met by a sight that he would gladly forget in an instant. There in the corner of the room was a man, doing what seemed to be folding himself in half for pleasure, his head almost touching the bottoms of his feet. The man was about fifty, his hair just showing his age, silver slipping into the brown of his locks. He was in great physical shape, his body seeming to belong to a man half his age.

"Hello my boy. Care to join me for a little yoga?" Mr. Collins flipped himself into another position, one that could be found as incredibly sexual. "It has its perks."

"If you don't mind sir, but could we talk in a more, professional, manner?" Castiel shifted awkwardly on his feet, trying not to stare at the man that with one move could easily suck on his genitals.

"Oh sure thing kiddo. And please, call me Misha. Everyone does." Misha stood up, his robe barely covering himself.

"Misha, if you do not mind me asking, why did you call me here?" Castiel tried to hide his flushed face from the man in front of him, but his attempts were futile.

The older man laughed at Castiel, "Most people are not comfortable in my presence, not that it matters. Take a seat Castiel." Misha motioned to the seats in front of a massive roaring fireplace.

Castiel took a seat, his mind whirling with questions. "Misha, why am I here?"

Misha came up behind him, now fully clothed, though Castiel had no idea how. "My dear boy, I use to know your grandfather, interesting man he was, crazy, but interesting. He gave me a package to give to you, once the time was right."

Misha circled behind the chairs and came up behind Castiel, a package in his hand. It was wrapped in brown paper, slightly stained from its years of sitting on a shelf. The string that held it together was slightly frayed around the edges, worn from the constant rubbing on the sharp corners. Castiel held the package in his hands, not knowing what to do with it.

"Are you just going to stare at it or are you going to open the damn thing?" Misha took a sip from a glass that magically appeared in his hand. How was this man doing that?

Castiel looked back down at the package and slowly slipped his fingers into the knot that held the strings together. With a little bit of work they slowly fell apart, leaving the paper as the last barrier between Castiel and the contents of the package. Slipping his fingers underneath, Castiel worked the paper up and around the contents revealing a worn book. Castiel's jaw dropped when he realized what was in his hands. It was the guide to Atlantis, what his grandfather had been searching for his entire life. Pulling the cover back with a creak from the leather binding, Castiel was met with the text of Atlantis, beautiful symbols that spoke of years of knowledge.

"Where…where did you get this?"

Misha chuckled, looming over Castiel, his hand on the back of the chair. "Your grandfather sent that to me before he disappeared, his crew said that he wanted you to have it." Misha watched with pride as Castiel flipped through the book. He had promised Chuck that he would take care of his grandson, no matter what.

"Now, I believe that is a map to the city of Atlantis correct?" Misha didn't even wait for an answer from Castiel before he continued, "So you are going to need some way to get there right?"

Castiel stuttered for a second, this was all happening far to fast from his mind to take in. "I guess so, but-"

"Say no more my boy, for I have you covered." Misha motioned towards the desk behind him. On it lay a replica of what Castiel had only seen in scientific journals and rumors of late, it seemed to be what the Germans called a u-boat, or a submarine. It was a boat that could travel underwater, but ships of this magnitude were only in the theoretical stages of them, this type of craft was supposed to be years in the making.

"How is this possible?" Castiel was almost convinced that this was a hoax, an elaborate stunt pulled by the university to put him in his place. This was too much for him to take, too much for it to be true.

"Your grandfather and I had made a bet when we were young, if he found that book, I would have to fund an exploration and kiss him full on the mouth." Reaching over to a side table Misha picked up a picture and smiled. Showing it to Castiel he said, "This was taken right after he showed me the damned thing."

The picture was of Misha and Castiel's grandfather, Misha looking incredibly smug as he kissed Chuck, Chuck looking like he was in the middle of harvesting someone's organs. Castiel smiled, he had never seen his grandfather look so helpless before in his life.

Misha pulled the picture back and placed it back on the table, "I always teased him about liking that kiss more than he cared to admit." Misha looked up at a huge portrait of him and Chuck that was hanging above the fireplace. Castiel could have sworn that it wasn't there before; he would have noticed something that big and gaudy. This man was fill of more mysteries than a Sherlock Holmes Novel.

Misha continued to stare at the portrait, talking to it like he was addressing the deceased man directly. "And I have kept my promise. There is no way that I am going to my grave with a debt on my chest, you hear me Chuck? I will die as virtuous as possible!" Misha ducked his head with a sigh, "I miss that man. He was one of my best friends. He went far too soon."

Misha turned back to Castiel, his eyes sparking back to life with indignant resolve. "Now my boy, this is your choice. Will you come and change the world as we know it, or will you continue to be an under appreciated genius? It is your choice."

Castiel slumped back in his chair, his mind spinning with possibilities. "I'll need to take time off of work…"

Misha waved his hand at Castiel, shrugging off the problem with ease, "Taken care of."

"I'll have to store my personal items."

"Already in storage."

"I'll need to take my personal assistant."

"It's been-" Misha perked up with renewed interest, "Really? Hmm, I was not expecting that. I shall take care of it right away. Sam Wesson right?" Castiel nodded. "Very well. Castiel, welcome to the team."

Holding out his hand Misha waited for Castiel to take it, a physical confirmation of their deal. Castiel was weary, this was everything he wanted, all his dreams come true, but it was too good to be true. Nothing like this happened without some clause that he couldn't see.

Against his better judgment Castiel took Misha's hand and shook it, his gut turning uncomfortably.

Misha's face broke out into a broad grin, "You have made the most important decision of your life. Castiel, we are going to change the world."


	3. A Bright Iron Future

**A/N: Short one this week. Might post another tomorrow. Who knows.**

**For all of you who saw the romance theme, it is not a major theme, just an underlying tone. This is not the main focus of the story, although it will come up. It will just be implied, nothing spelled out. I don't want to scare you away, but I thought since supernatural has homoerotic subtext, my story needs homoerotic subtext. **

**Don't own anything, nothing at all. *****Sobs uncontrollably*******

Castiel was standing on the platform before a massive piece of metal, the entire ship was over 1000 feet long, and the sheer size of it was daunting. At the front of the ship was a glass sphere, the panels over five feet thick to hold against the water pressure. The bolts holding the entire ship together were bigger than Castiel's palm; everything about it was huge and over proportional. Castiel stood staring at the ship for what seemed like half an hour, his mouth was open and he was unconsciously gawking.

"Oh my. This is, stunning." Sam's praise brought Castiel back to the real world. Turning he looked at his young apprentice, Sam's eyes large and sucking in every detail that he could see.

"Yes. This is a magnificent show of man's progress. Next thing we are going to be on the moon." Castiel went back to looking at the submarine, his words making Sam's eyes grow even wider.

"Do you think that is possible? Man being on the moon. Sounds fairly far fetched does it not?"

Castiel shrugged his shoulders, "Jules Verne wrote of submarines before they were even a logical possibility and here we are staring at a replication of a work of fiction. If he was right about the submarine, what's to say that he won't be right about space travel?"

Sam had no response to Castiel so he went back to looking at the tons of iron in front of him, his mind barely fathoming the machine that made traveling _underwater_ possible.

"She's a beauty isn't she?" Misha's voice made to two men swing around. He was standing in the uniform of a captain, the hat tipped off his forehead so his hair was sticking up over the rim. He was standing with a cane in both his hands, cocky and yet approachable.

"She is a work of true craftsmanship." Castiel could not help the praise that was coming out of his mouth. The ship truly was beautiful.

Misha chuckled, "You can tell the maker yourself. He will be travelling with you on the voyage. But for now, I shall introduce you to the captain of this fine vessel. LUCIFER!" Misha turned and yelled at a man several yards down the deck.

Castiel watched as a man turned, his grey eyes burning ice cold. The man was a beast; his six-foot frame, give or take a couple inches, was covered with muscle, making him almost as broad as he was tall. He walked over to Misha, each of his steps taken with purpose and an air of arrogance. This man was born to lead, everything about him made Castiel want to bow down in submission.

"What is it Misha?" The man spoke gruffly; he clearly wasn't pleased with being called over like a dog to his master.

"Lucifer, I would like you to meet the man who will be leading you to Atlantis. Castiel, this is Lucifer, the captain of _The Garrison_." Misha motioned between both men, gesturing to each man as he spoke of him.

Lucifer held out his hand, which Castiel took, his grip like a vice. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." Lucifer spoke with a grin, but his eyes spoke differently. Castiel swallowed nervously, somehow he knew that declining this mans friendship would be a bad idea.

"Like wise." Castiel pulled his hand out of Lucifer's grip, rubbing it a bit to regain the previous feeling and mobility. He turned to Sam; still trying to regain feeling is his numb limb. "This is my apprentice, Sam Wesson."

Sam held out his hand to Lucifer, a grin on his face that did not quite reach his eyes. Lucifer looked at Sam's hand for a few short moments, his eyes cold and calculating, taking in every inch of Sam before he took the hand. "It's a pleasure." Lucifer spoke the words quickly, like they were burning him on the way out.

Sam nodded, his grin gone. Sam had three inches on the man, but Lucifer's presence was enough to dwarf anyone, including the six-four giant in front of him. Lucifer walked past the group and onto _The Garrison,_ his form quickly being swallowed in the massive bulk of iron and steel.

Misha chuckled to himself, "Quiet the character is he not? One of my favorites." Clapping his hands together a smile came back onto his face. "Well, I believe that it is time for you two to finally make the first steps of your journey, launch shall occur in less than five minutes, so you two should get on board before you are left behind."

Shuffling to pick up their bags, Sam and Castiel took one last look at the tons of metal loaming above them, and then took the first couple to steps towards their destiny, and towards their doom.


	4. And that's where peace ends

**A/N: Had to cut this chapter in half because it was so long. Sorry folks, you're just going to have to wait a whole 'nother week for the next half. Oh, I am so evil.**

**Don't own Supernatural or Disney, but I think that you guys understand that by now.**

**Oh, and one more thing. This is the where the innuendo starts to get really bad, just a heads up for all of you out there who might not like that stuff. **

On the ship Castiel and Sam were directed several floors down to the sleeping quarters where they would find their cabin. It was a simple room with two double bunks and a storage space between them. Sam threw his bag on the top bunk and hoisted him self after it. Lying down Sam had one of his legs propped up and the other one was dangling off the edge. Sam couldn't keep the smile off his face; he was in a submarine going to Atlantis. If someone had told him that two years ago he would have told them that they were not only crazy but also that it was impossible. Sam was glad he didn't.

Looking down from his bunk Sam noticed that Castiel was just staring at the bunk below him, seeming to contemplate where or not he could find the meaning of life in a bunk bed.

"What is it Mr. Novak?" Sam shifted to his side, leaning on his elbow. Castiel looked up at Sam, his eyes full to the brim with confusion.

"There is an arm in my bed." Sam wasn't sure whether or not to believe Castiel but his face was totally serious.

"What?" Sam slide off the bed and looked at the one underneath him. Sure enough, there was an arm lying on the bed, along with a leg and a torso.

"Oh, don't mind that. Just a bit of work, didn't have room in the ward so I brought it up." The two men swung around and looked at the man standing in the doorway. He was older than Castiel, probably in his early thirties. His blonde hair was a perfect mess and his eyes were a pale blue.

"How rude of me. My name's Balthazar, and you are?" Balthazar held out his hand to Castiel, his eyes shining.

Castiel looked at the hand that was held out to him, grimacing at the sight. Balthazar looked down too, his eyebrows rising as he noticed the liquids on his hands.

"So sorry. Sometimes I don't even notice my own mess. That's just a little secretion from my last examination." Wiping his hands on his pants Balthazar looked back at the men in front of him. "You can called me Taz by the way, it's easier than saying Balthazar. Most people find it a bit of a mouthful, but not my parents, God bless their souls. They seemed to like the idea of naming their child after an angel, something about their faith. Anyway, seems that you two boys are my new roommates. Last one left unexpectedly, said something about jumping off the bridge. Bit of a joker that one. I'm sorry, I'm rambling again. I tend to do that, just stop me when it gets to much."

Castiel and Sam just watched the man talk, wondering if it would ever come to an end, which did not seem likely at all. Both of them jumped at the blaring tone that came out of the speaker in the top corner of their rooms.

"All hands report to stations. Launch commencing in one minute."

"That would be my queue to leave." Balthazar walked out of the room, leaving a very relived Sam and confused Castiel behind. "Oh," Balthazar's head popped back into the room, "You two are wanted on the bridge. It seems that you are to watch the launch from there."

As Balthazar popped back out of the room Sam turned to look at Castiel. "Well, shall we go Mr. Novak?"

Castiel looked up at Sam, "Yes Sam." Pausing for a second Castiel looked back at his apprentice, "You didn't happen to see where the bridge was did you?"

Sam laughed, "Yes I did. Follow me Mr. Novak." Sam led Castiel out of the room and towards the bridge, passing men who were running to their stations, preparing for the launch that would change history.

Sam and Castiel finally made it to the bridge after being tussled and shoved many a time. Climbing the stairs Castiel and Sam where faced with a sea of movement, people were hustling back and forth, orders being shouted and replies being yelled.

Lucifer was standing at the front of the bridge, his hands interlocked behind his back. He was looking down at the men below him, telling his orders to the man beside him who would then relay the orders to the men below. To Castiel it seemed a bit redundant, but he didn't say anything, it wasn't his place.

The man beside Lucifer turned and Castiel saw that it was Michael, Misha's assistant. There were several other people on the bridge, but Castiel didn't know a single one.

"Take us down Lieutenant." Lucifer's voice boomed out across the bridge, shaking Castiel to his bones.

"Right Captain. Release the Cables." A sudden jarring motion rippled through the ship as it dropped. Castiel stumbled when the ship hit the water located a few feet below the belly of the vessel. Sam's hand reached out and grabbed Castiel's arm, righting him before he fell. "Drop us down ten degrees, forward at three knots."

Michael echoed the words and they were obeyed immediately, the men running around at his every word. He was their god who only answered to one man, Lucifer.

The boat dipped down, its nose pointing towards the ocean floor, the propellers kicking in with a thunderous roar. The boat continued to dive for several minutes, going closer and closer to the dark depths below. Eventually Michael's voice rang our again, "Level her out. Continue at three knots." The gradual rise of the nose could be felt briefly, Castiel's stomach feeling it more than the rest of him.

Lucifer turned around and faced the people on the bridge, a smile on his face. "Castiel, you were asked here to be introduced to the rest of the crew and your team. Michael, if you would."

Michael walked to the rest of the people on the bridge, pointing out each person as he called their name. "This is Balthazar Smith, doctor and talkaholic." Balthazar smiled and waved, clearly fighting back a comment. "This is Bobby Singer, chef." The gruff man standing next to Balthazar grunted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He had several stains on his shirt and pants; ones from what Castiel could assume were from his cooking. "Next is Crowley McLeod, demolition expert." The little man next to Bobby smiled and winked at Sam. "Hello Darling." Sam shifted uncomfortably under the eye of Crowley. "And we also have De-" Michael paused, looking around the bridge.

Sighing, Michael turned to Lucifer and gave him a look. Lucifer nodded and went to the control panel, pressing a button and speaking into a microphone. "Petty officer Masters, get Mr. Smith up here. He's needed on the bridge, immediately." A quick 'yessir' was followed and Lucifer walked away from the panel. "Sorry about that. My crew is usually very prompt about such things."

Castiel quickly spoke, fearing for the shipmen who would be on the opposite side of Lucifer's rage. "It's not problem sir. I am content with waiting." And wait they did. The entire group shifted uncomfortably as they waiting for Mr. Smith to come to the bridge. Finally, after about five minutes a man came walking onto the deck, clearly irritated.

"What do you want Lu? I was busy fixing messes that your damn crew keeps making. I swear, the next person who tries to open a door backwards I'll shoot out of a torpedo hatch." Dean was standing with his arms crossed across his muscular chest, arms rippling as they moved. He was dressed in coveralls, but the zipper was down so the top half hung on his hips, leaving him only wearing the bottom and a wife-beater. He had grease and oil covering almost every part of his body and Castiel could swear that he had at least half a dozen tools in his pockets.

"Dean, this is Castiel Novak. He is the reason for this trip. Castiel, Dean Smith, the creator of _The Garrison_." Dean held out his hand to Castiel, a smile forming on his face.

"Well well. So you are the genius that everyone has been talking about. Can't say I see what they were all awestruck about, but hey, you've got the whole trip to prove me wrong right?" Dean winked at Castiel, making the man flush.

Turning to Sam Dean smiled again, "And who's gigantor over here?"

Sam grabbed Dean's hand and shook it roughly, "I'm Sam Wesson."

Dean pulled his hand from Sam's grinning the entire time. "Nice to meet you Sammy."

Frowning Sam corrected Dean, "It's Sam."

Hitting his arm Dean countered, "Sure thing Sammy. Well Lu, what are we here for anyway? I've got things to do, people to see, relationships to destroy."

Rolling his eyes Lucifer addressed the rest of the people on the bridge, "I have called you all here to meet the leader of our team, Mr. Castiel Novak. He will be guiding our team to the lost city of Atlantis. You are the follow his instructions to the letter, he is second only to me. That is all. Dismissed." The group parted like water, each going in their own separate direction. As Dean passed Castiel he whispered in his ear, "Hey, if you want, my room's three doors down from yours. You know, if you ever get lonely. Don't have to worry about a roommate either, I don't got one."

Castiel could feel the smile in his voice as Dean slunk away leaving Castiel blushing more than ever. Sam nudged him in the side, pointing with his head towards the front of the ship. "Do you want to go and look around with me? Just to kill time until we get somewhere?" Castiel nodded, not quite trusting his voice to come out as more than a squeak.

Castiel and Sam explored the ship, almost from top to bottom. There were certain areas that they were not allowed in, ones that had locks and guards standing by the doors. Castiel's curiosity got the better of him and he made a note to ask Dean about what was behind them, he knew that Lucifer couldn't answer his questions, but Dean might.

Sam and Castiel ended up at the bow of the ship, looking through the great glass panels into the ocean beyond. The little creatures swimming just an arms length away from his face fascinated Castiel; the only thing separating them was a few feet of superheated sand. Sam was acting like a five year old on his first trip to the zoo. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open, gaping at all the mysteries in front of him.

"Do you think that we are seeing these creatures for the first time? That this is the first time that they have ever been seen by man?" Castiel couldn't help but smile at his curious young friend. Sam couldn't stop asking questions even if it killed him.

"It wouldn't be hard to believe that we are the first to see these creatures. Humans couldn't come to these depths before so it would seem very likely that we are the first to lay eyes on them." Castiel wasn't looking at Sam, but he could see out of the corner of his eye the smile that the young man wore. Sam was always excited to learn and discover new things.

A small flash caught Sam's eye, a movement just out of the sight of the primary lights on the hull. "Mr. Novak, do you see that?" Sam turned and looked at Castiel, not sure if he could trust his own eyes.

Turning to look at Sam Castiel's eyes followed Sam's pointed finger, searching the darkness for what Sam had seen. Seeing nothing Castiel turned to say something when a motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Spinning to look in the direction the movement came from Castiel pressed up against the glass, his face touching the panels. Certain now that something was there Castiel turned to the bridge, calling out to Lucifer. "Sir? I think there is something that you should see."

Lucifer turned towards Castiel motioning to the deck hands. "Turn on the exterior lights." Two great beams of light shot out of the front of the ship, illuminating everything in its path. The beams fell on the carcasses of hundreds of ships, a colorful mixture of ancient vessels and modern steel. Silence consumed the ship, nothing but the hum of the motors could be heard.

Sam was the one to break the silence. "There must be hundreds of ships from every era down here." Turning to Castiel Sam had a terrible thought, "Mr. Novak, what made them sink?"

The answer came in the form of a horrendous jerk, flinging everyone forward several feet. Lucifer was able to catch himself on the handrail before he was flung to the floor of the ship. "What was that Lieutenant?"

Michael was moving over the control panel, his hands and eyes flying over the different gauges and dials. "It seems that we have lost our forward propellers. We have no way to control the ship."

Another jolt shuddered through the ship, warning lights and buzzers filling the once empty silence. "What now?" Lucifer was angry, what else could possible go wrong?

Dean's voice filled the room, echoing off the walls. "Lu? We have got a major leak in boiler number three. We have to evacuate before this whole ship blows."

Lucifer ran a hand across his face, "How long do we have?"

"Five minutes." The ship rotated, turning on its side. "Better make that two."

Lucifer turned to the men surrounding him. "You heard the man. All hands abandon ship." Michael carried out his command, the sound of the retreat was called out, people swarming to get to the escape pods.

Sam grabbed Castiel's arm and dragged him after the rest of the retreating crew. Castiel was glad that Sam was able to react right away; if Castiel had been on his own he would still be on the bridge, his face plastered against the glass.

Strapping him self into the seat Castiel tried to stop the shaking in his fingers. It took him three tries to get the buckle into the clasp, Sam watching him the entire time.

Just before the hatch was about to shut Dean came running in, shouting. "We've got to move NOW!" His statement was followed directly by a shuddering blast, the tiny vessel creaking under the strain.

Lucifer's voice came from the front of the vessel, Castiel wasn't sure when he got there, he hadn't seen him come in. "Take us out of here Lieutenant." He must have been addressing Michael, as Castiel was sure that they never left each other's side.

The tiny ship left with a creak and a groan, the boat objecting to the movement. Castiel's grip tightened on his restrains, his knuckles going white against the black of the buckles.

Dean was busy buckling himself into the seat next to Castiel, his hands precise and efficient, not trembling in the least. Looking around, Castiel seemed to be the only one panicking. Crowley and Bobby were exchanging glances between each other, Crowley grinning and Bobby rolling his eyes. Balthazar was muttering to himself, his mouth not stopping for even a moment. Castiel didn't realize he was staring until Balthazar looked up at him and smiled, his eyes a little crazy. Castiel looked away quickly, focusing on the fact they weren't going to die. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

"Castiel!" Lucifer's voice barked from the front of the ship. "Where are we going?"

Fumbling for the journal Castiel flipped it open, searching for the right page.

"Castiel…" Lucifer's voice was impatient, slowly taking on an edge.

Flipping through the pages Castiel finally found the one that he was looking for. "Head towards a crevasse. It should have a symbol beside it, a kind of star."

Michael's voice came from the front, "There."

The ship titled forward, making a beeline for the crack in the sea floor. They were the first ship to move there, the rest of them following their lead. Out of the tiny porthole in the back of the ship Castiel watched as pod after pod trailed after them.

There didn't seem to be any reason for the failure of the submarine, none that Castiel could see anyway. Everything seemed to be normal.

The appearance of a huge, creature, made Castiel change his mind instantly. It easily dwarfed the submarine, it's large frame three times the size of the hull. It was the shape of an eel, it's length covered with what seemed to be steel plating. The creature was ramming itself into the empty submarine, breaking it clean in two. Once the ship sunk to the ocean floor it turned and headed straight for the other ships. Castiel couldn't do anything but watch, his mouth slowly opening as ship after ship slowly disappeared in flashes of light.

Sam flowed Castiel's gaze a gasped at the sight behind them. "Sir? We might want to get moving. Fast."

Lucifer turned and saw what Castiel and Sam were staring at. If he was surprised at all his face didn't show it. "Step on it Lieutenant. Get to that hole now."

The strain that Michael was experiencing was evident in his voice, "I'm trying sir."

"Try harder."

By now the entire contents of the pod were gapping out the window, everyone but Balthazar speechless. "Bloody Hell. What is that?"

His question was directed towards Castiel, his eyebrows tilted in confusion.

Castiel couldn't pull his eyes away from the view, his mouth answering without his brain realizing, "Leviathan."


	5. Upon a dreary Journey

**A/N: Here's the other half. I hope you like it just as much as the first half. I personally like this half better, but hey, whatever. **

**Don't own this stuff, if I did I would be writing this in Cairo with a plate of dates at my elbow. Not because I like dates, but because they are needed to complete the picture. **

**Let's see if you guys can find the movie quote and tell me where it is from.**

The view was cut off as the little pod dipped down into the crevasse, only four other pods following after them. Castiel breathed a sigh of relief; they were safe.

An explosion behind him ripped that thought from his head instantly. He must have let out a shriek as Sam took his hand and gripped it tight, trying to bring Castiel's mind back to the pod, not to the destruction outside.

Michael was able to dodge the shrapnel, but one of the other pods wasn't so lucky. It was hit by the blast wave and shoved into a wall. It spun and hit the other side, finally exploding in a rain of fire.

Castiel's heart was pounding, threatening to beat right out of his chest. His grip tightened on Sam's hand, he could have sworn he heard a crunch of bones. The pod was dangerously shifting back and forth down the never-ending tunnel, skimming the wall every now and then. With a final up hill climb the pod broke the surface of the water, appearing in a cavern that was as black as hell. It made no difference whether or not Castiel's eyes were open or closed, he couldn't see no matter what.

The darkness was thick; you could almost feel it slinking down your body. It penetrated everything, not letting go without a fight. It was several minutes that the crew sat there doing nothing, all of them lost in their thoughts, stunned over what just happened.

The bright flash coming from a flare made everyone cover their eyes, blinding in the perfect blackness. Crowley's face was illuminated, his smile shining with the added light. "What? I couldn't leave my babies alone now could I?" Bobby was heard grumbling in the background where the light didn't quite reach.

"Everybody out. There's no time to sit around." Lucifer walked through the cabin, stopping in the middle and reaching up to the hatch, spinning it open with ease. He pushed it open and climbed out, Michael following directly after. Slowly everyone else came out, Crowley and Castiel needing help, Castiel because he was still shaken up, Crowley because he didn't quite reach the roof. Bobby laughed at that, Crowley threatening to put a stick of dynamite in his sleeping bag if he ever mentioned it again.

They were standing on the top of the pod, everyone looking to someone else, no sure what to do from there. A splash told everyone what they were dreading; they would have to swim for shore. A second splash and Castiel knew he would have to jump in soon, secretly hoping that it wasn't a far swim. He wasn't exactly the best swimmer in the world.

Taking a deep breath, Castiel jumped. He hit the water hard, the cold sucking the breath out of him. When his head broke the surface he took a huge breath, his lungs freezing as the water seeped into his clothes, dragging him down and making it harder to swim. He struggled for a bit, trying to make his arms and legs work in the cold water, his limbs going numb quickly.

A strong hand grabbed him and dragged him along, slowly moving through the water, just as thick as the darkness that surrounded it. Everything was as thick and black as tar; the only exception was the red beacon that was Crowley's road flare.

It was a long struggled before Castiel made it to shore, his limbs aching from cold and strain. He was never going to go swimming in his clothes again, not as long as he could help it. Castiel looked up and saw that it was Dean who had dragged him to the shore, his form lying on the beach, chest rising and falling with each breath.

Taking a shuddering breath Castiel expelled a shaky "Thank you."

Dean head rose and he gave him a smile before it flopped back to the ground, "Anytime gorgeous." Castiel was to tired to be embarrassed.

"On your feet. We move in five." Lucifer was already up and moving, taking care of what supplies they had left.

Looking around Castiel saw that only three pods had made it, the other two had drifted to shore, their doors open with people going in and out carried boxes of supplies. A little bit sore from having to swim while the others got to stay dry Castiel muttered, "Why couldn't we have drifted to shore?"

Dean was the only one who had heard him and answered back, "Because our engines were toast and we were in a current sending us back out of the cavern."

Standing up Castiel muttered a faint "Oh."

Following his lead Dean got to his feet also. "Yeah, oh."

Crowley was handing out road flares, and slowly the small lights illuminated the cavern. The edges and top of the cavern could not be seen, the only thing that the group was able to make out was a staircase looming in the darkness, as wide as the cavern it continued until it couldn't be seen, consumed by the darkness.

A pack was thrush into Castiel's hands, the dark edge of Michael's eyes following after it. "Here. You have to carry this, we're heading out in three."

Michael turned and walked away, his pace fast and brisk. Castiel looked down at the pack. With a sigh he slung it over his shoulders, the straps digging into his flesh the moment he let go.

Trying not to complain Castiel followed the rest of the group, ending up at the back of the line with Sam and Dean. Balthazar walked a few people ahead, but Castiel could hear him talking, his ceaseless chatter starting to grind on Castiel's nerves.

Tapping his arm Sam grabbed Castiel's attention. "How far is it Mr. Novak?"

Taking out his journal Castiel flipped through, opening to the third entry. "It says here it would be a three day hike, give or take a day."

Sam was silent for a moment before he spoke again, "Would you like me to take your pack then? You seem to be struggling with it."

Castiel didn't know how Sam saw it but Castiel was grateful of his offer. The pack was bothering him, but it wasn't something that he couldn't handle. He might have been raised around books and dead languages, but he could carry his fair share of the workload. "No thank you Sam. I am fine."

Sam shrugged, knowing not to push Castiel on this, "If you ever change your mind, let me know." Castiel nodded, thankful for the kindness of his young student.

"You know he's only trying to help right?" Castiel turned to look at Dean, his head tilting as it always did when he was confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You didn't have to shove him off like that. He was only trying to be helpful."

Castiel scoffed a little, "I didn't do that for my pride if that is what you are thinking. I did it because I am fully capable of carrying my fair share around here. I am not as incompetent as people think I am." Hiking his bag up farther on his shoulders Castiel turned, cutting Dean out of his sight and out of his mind. He could hear Dean muttering to himself, but Castiel paid him no mind. He didn't give Dean two thoughts; Dean's opinion of him didn't matter to Castiel. He was use to being judged on his appearance, people did it to him all the time. One more person shouldn't make a difference.

The group hiked in silence for the next few hours, Balthazar being the only one to break the silence, though no one paid attention to him.

Finally, six hours into the hike, someone from the front of the group called out, "Don't you every shut up?"

To which Balthazar replied, "Not while I'm awake."

So for the next four hours, they all listened to Balthazar talk about how he didn't shut up. The one sided conversation was quite redundant.

The entire group breathed out a sigh of relief when Lucifer's voice boomed out, "We rest here for the night. Unpack, dinner's in ten."

Bobby gave Crowley his tent, telling him to set it up for him. Crowley shoved it back, telling Bobby to set up his own bloody tent. Bobby then took the opportunity to remained Crowley that he was preparing his food. Crowley quickly took the tent back, grumbling about how Bobby "owed him for this".

Sam and Castiel put their tents up beside each other, Sam helping Castiel out with his when he couldn't get it to stand up right.

"What's the matter Cas? Never gone camping before?" Dean's voice carried out to Castiel, his mocking tone a little hurtful.

"I never had the opportunity no." Castiel didn't see the point in lying; it was obvious that he had never done this before.

"That's to bad. Camping's great. Sleeping under the stars, living like an animal, hunting for your food. Best experience I've ever had." Dean had unrolled his mat, lying down on it and staring at the ceiling.

Sam unrolled his mat too, looking up at Dean, "What kind of camping did you do?"

Dean flipped, now lying on his stomach, "What? You don't do that stuff while you're camping?"

Sam shook his head, scoffing. "No."

Rolling back onto his back Dean said, "Your loss."

Castiel had just finished his tent when a shout rose, "Come and get it!"

Sitting around a fire, Bobby came around with a pot, the smell coming out simply mouth watering. Making his way slowly around the circle, Bobby gave each person a scoop from the pot; people digging in the moment the food touched their plate. Holding out his plate eagerly Castiel watched as the concoction hit his plate with a splat.

"Baked beans and pulled pork enjoy." Castiel took a huge bite, his mouth lighting up with the drool worthy flavors. He let out a small moan, instantly regretting it at the looks he got from the people around him.

"Sorry." Castiel hung his head, "It's just really good." He could hear Dean snickering in the background and his face flushed.

"I wonder what kind of noises he makes in bed if that's how he reacts to food." Balthazar's comment made Castiel go even redder.

Dean looked up from his plate, a smile gracing his features. "I could always find out and tell you Taz."

"That would be greatly appreciated, thank you Dean." Castiel wanted to melt into the floor.

Bobby was walking away but you could hear the "Idjits" that he released.

Crowley was the one to speak up this time, directing his comment towards Bobby. "Why thank you love. Good to see that your talent isn't going to waste."

Bobby turned and looked at Crowley, his brow furrowing. "Oh my talent didn't go to waste. Let's see if you find the surprise in yours."

The circle erupted in laughter as Crowley's eyes widened, pushing the plate away instantly. His face hardened as he stared down anyone willing to make eye contact with him, "You think that's funny do you?" He grabbed the plate of the man next to him, taking a bite as the man just gaped, not knowing what to do.

"So, Castiel, how did you get dragged into this? I'm sure that you didn't exactly volunteer did you?" Castiel was glad for the welcome distraction, his face going back to its normal shade.

"My grandfather was the one who found the journal, and I am the only one who can translate it. You could say I volunteered out of necessity." Balthazar nodded, swallowing before he addressed Sam.

"So why are you here? Just someone to keep Castiel company?"

Sam put down his plate, wiping his hands on his pants. "No. I am Mr. Novak's student, and he asked for me to come, so I did. Not exactly a hard decision."

"Ah, I see. Well, I don't know if you know this or not, but all of us where on the first voyage that your grandfather took, well all of us except Dean, bit young for that. We were there when he found the book. Never seen a man happier in my life, it was spectacular. Of course, it was too bad that he went missing the very next day. Vanished into thin air, no one knows when or where he went. Real mystery that." Balthazar seemed to be lost in his memories, his fork slipping from his grip. It landed in his food, splashing over his shirt. "Oh damn it. Ah well." Unbuttoning his shirt Balthazar pulled it off and threw it into the fire, watching it go up in smoke. "To bad, I liked that shirt."

The rest of dinner was in relative silence, Balthazar's questions continuing into the night.

Placing his plate into a tub of soapy water Castiel went to his tent, lying down with a sigh. It had been a long day and he was ready to go to sleep. His peace was interrupted when an eye mask hit him in the face, Crowley towering over him. "You might want one of these. Balthazar sleeps in the nude, and he sleep walks."

A call came from the other end of the camp, "We all know you don't wear one Crowley!"

Stewing Crowley made his way to his tent, drawing the flaps and shutting out the rest of the camp.

Taking the eye mask off of his face and rolling onto his stomach Castiel looked up at Dean, who was getting ready to go to sleep.

"So Dean, why are you here?" Dean turned, pausing in his motions.

"Well Bobby's my father, and they had an opening for an engineer. He got me the job." Dean pulled his wife beater off, Castiel unable to tear his eyes away.

"There has to be more to it then that. How does a, twenty-two?" Castiel added with a question, "year old end up building the biggest submarine known to mankind?" Castiel rested his chin on his folded arms, seriously intrigued about Deans past.

"Twenty-four. When I got the job, it was for engineer's assistant. During the first couple of weeks I kept noticing mistakes that the guy kept making. After the twentieth I went to Misha, complaining about the shit the guy was doing. After he saw I knew better than the other man, I was promoted to head of construction. I was put in charge of design and construction of the vessel. I got to name her too." Dean had put on a loose shirt and taken off his cover alls leaving him in just the shirt and briefs. Castiel was content with him staying in just that.

"Why _The Garrison_? Seems a bit religious don't you think?" Castiel didn't peg Dean as the religious type.

"Well you see, I was supposed to be like Balthazar, named after an angel, but when my mom died in child birth Dad kinda lost his faith. Named me after the nurse instead. He always told me that mom was with the angels and that she was watching over me. So I named the ship after where the angels reside, hoping that it would keep her with me where ever I went. That's also why Balthazar and I took her last name, just a piece of her to keep with us." Dean lay down, mimicking Castiel.

"You're Balthazar's brother?" Castiel was shocked, but know that he knew he could see a little bit of family resemblance if any.

Dean laughed, "Yeah I know right? Most people don't believe me when I tell them, I guess it's just kind of a shocker." Grabbing his cover alls Dean rolled them up and placed them under his head, slipping his arms under them so he could continue staring at Castiel comfortably. "So you have anyone other than your grandfather?"

Castiel shook his head, "No. Chuck was the only family that I had; my mother was pregnant when she died. I was going to be an older brother, but sadly, that did not happen."

Dean didn't say anything; he had no idea what you would say to someone who was willing to be that open about their personal life. Instead he turned to Sam, who was trying to stay out of the conversation, which was very hard to do. "So Sam, what about you? Got any one waiting for you back home?"

At the mention of his name Sam put down the book he was reading and turned on his side to face Dean. "Yeah, I've got my mom and dad, John and Mary, and my younger sister Jo and her fiancé Ash."

Dean pricked up at that, "What, no girlfriend?"

Sam let out a harsh laugh, "No, no girlfriend."

Turning to Castiel Dean repeated the question, "How about you? Girl waiting for you when you get home?"

Castiel just shook his head, "No. No girl. Just my cat."

Dean rolled over to his back, "I've always been more of a dog person myself. But cats are fine I guess."

A grumpy yell came from two tents down, Bobby's head popping out of the tent. "Would you boys shut up? Some of us are trying to sleep here."

"Yeah, yeah Dad. Get your panties out of a twist. We're going to bed."

An "Idjits" was heard and Castiel laughed. "Good night Dean, Sam."

Two goodnights were given back and Dean doused the lamp, plunging the camp in complete and utter darkness so even the most trained eye couldn't see the movement on the edge of the tents.


	6. May the Lights Ignite You

**A/N: I decided to be incredibly nice this week and give you two. I am just going to end up posting whenever I feel like it, so they will be no set days I update. When I write a chapter, I'll post. I've got like three stories I'm working on so there might be huge gaps in updates. Just strictly FYI.**

**Don't own Supernatural. I wish I did, but I don't. If I did I would be frolicking in the shadows of Misha, Richard, Sebastian, Jensen, Jared, and Mark (x2).**

Castiel awoke the next day with a sore back and a crick in his neck. He sat up stiffly and stretched, the small of his back complaining. Running a hand through his hair Castiel wished for a hot bath or something to get the stiffness out of his body and the grease out of his hair. It had only been two day since they had left the marina, but it already felt like a lifetime.

Castiel looked around the camp and noticed that everyone else was still lying in their tents, most of them moving restlessly, muttering at the ghosts haunting their dreams. Most of the men had lost friends, possibly family, in the tragedy that had befallen them not even a day ago. It must have been hard for them to just continue with their lives, not even given enough time to morn over them. At least Castiel got a memorial funeral for his grandfather, these men got nothing.

Castiel got up and left the camp, taking the journal with him. He had been reading it as he walked, being able to make it cover to cover twice. There was one part that stumped him though, right at the end of the journal the author spoke of a "God-like" power that the Atlantian's used to keep themselves alive, and then it cut off. Castiel had flipped through it time after time, reading the words over and over again, trying to determine what the problem was. Third time must have been a charm as Castiel noticed for the first time near the inside of the binding a small fragment of page, enough to be unnoticed unless it was being looked for. The small piece of page was enough to tell Castiel that the page had been torn out, and that the person who did it had done it deliberately, wanting whoever read the journal next not to know of the pages disappearance or of its existence.

Castiel must have been walking and going over the journal for quite a while as when he looked up he could no longer see the camp and he was in completely unfamiliar territory. Shutting the journal with a snap Castiel looked around, the view around him was astonishing. The walls were covered in carvings, the style spanning what seemed to be millennia, starting at the caveman era and ending in the Grecian style. That is where the paintings ended abruptly, finished but yet incomplete, like a story in the middle of being told.

Studying the pictures on the wall, Castiel noticed that they seemed to be telling a story, one of what seemed to be the history of the Atlantians, from the beginning of their colony to the growth of their great nation. The pictures were gorgeous, the talent shown through the complex strokes and attention to details. Each character was different; telling Castiel that each was painted in their exact likeness, perfect replicas of those they were modeled after. Getting to the end of the paintings, Castiel wondered what it was that caused them to stop. He knew that Atlantis disappeared, but what would cause them to stop coming here, to stop telling their story that they so proudly displayed before. Castiel couldn't believe that the race was destroyed, so there must have been a reason for them to stop, but what?

Turning around, Castiel headed back to camp, mentally noting the location of the paintings; they would be a great addition to the knowledge collected on the trip.

As Castiel left the hall, a lone figure crept out of the shadows, waiting until Castiel's form was completely gone before they stepped into the light. Walking up to the wall the figure laid one hand on the paintings, stroking them lovingly. A single tear fell from their eye, landing on the tunic that covered their body, leaving a stain where it made it's final resting place. The hand lingered on the painting, trying to save the history that was there, trying to save what use to be, trying to save what could be. These memories where all they had, and they were slowly fading, along with the people that they belonged to. Atlantis was slowly fading, and the memory of it too.

Castiel returned to camp to find everyone up and moving, packing all their belongings and getting ready for another day of hiking before them. Castiel rushed over to his tent and started taking it down, moving as fast as he could to make up for lost time. He was able to finish at the same time as the others around him, everyone waiting for Lucifer's command. The command never came, Lucifer just started walking, and everyone followed. The unspoken command was loud enough for everyone to understand, follow or be left behind.

Castiel once again ended up in the back of the line, this time next to Balthazar. Figuring that he might as well make the most of it, Castiel decided that he should get to know Balthazar if he was going to be listening to him talk the whole day anyway.

"Balthazar-" Castiel started, bracing himself for the conversation that was bound to follow.

"Taz, please. Sounds less formal and prestigious if you know what I mean. Balthazar sounds so professional, and I don't want my friends to remind me of my work. Not that it would be a bad thing, I love my work, but there are some things that need to stay professional and some that need to stay casual if you know what I mean." Balthazar shrugged his backpack up further on his back, trying to take the weight off of his shoulders.

"Taz. How did you get this job? You don't seem to be the type for adventures, no offence meant. You just seem to be more comfortable in a sterile room with white walls."

"Well you see, I have always been quite a handful, even in my adult years. That was something that I passed down to Dean, while we were both living in the same house Dah said that if it weren't for the fact that he would be thrown in jail for child negligence he would have left us in the streets a long time ago. That kind of restlessness followed me where ever I went. No matter what hospital I worked at, no matter where I went, I couldn't find a place where I was willing to settle down and stay. My journey took me all over the world, Europe mostly. Spent ten years of my life there, never staying in one country for more than a year though. That's why some people can't place my accent, it's got so many different ones mixed in there it's practically one of a kind. An old friend asking me if I wanted to take part in an exhibition to Iceland, to find some long lost journal finally contacted me. Thinking that it would be good to get Europe out of my lungs I agreed, and that's how I got stuck. Once you've tasted adventure like this, you can't go back."

Castiel nodded along with Balthazar's story, not bothering to tell him that Iceland was a part of Europe, he was sure that Balthazar wouldn't care. They made small talk the rest of the hike, branching from philosophy, to religion, to childhood memories. It was during that part of the conversation that Dean decided that his hiking partner was boring and hung back to walk with Castiel and Balthazar.

"…And then he picked up the rock and said 'I'll be David and you be Goliath.'" Balthazar was in the middle of telling Castiel a story about him and Dean after they had come back from church one Sunday with their Aunt Ellen. She had refused to let the children grow out of a religious setting, even if Bobby had lost his faith.

Hearing the story that Balthazar was telling Dean hurriedly interjected, "Oh come on Balthy, not this story again." Turning to Castiel he whined, "He always has to tell this one. Make me seem like the awful brother."

Balthazar just laughed, "I'm going to finish it whether you let me or not so you might as well sit back and relax."

Dean sighed, "Fine."

"So, where was I? Oh yes! The rock. Well, he picks up a rock and says, 'I'll be David, and you be Goliath.' Cocking his arm back he launches the rock at me, hitting me square in the forehead. For a three-year-old kid he had quite the arm. Well, I ran into the house crying, my forehead bleeding, and dirt on my knees from where I had fallen and scrambled to get back up. Of course I told Dah what happened right away and Dean got put in a time out and got a stern scolding, I could hear Dah from down the hall telling him not to throw rocks again. After Dean was let out of timeout we went back out side to play again. I had my back to him, I was getting a ball to play with, when I heard Dean call out my name. Turning around Dean had another rock in his hand, and he was saying, 'I'll be David, you be Goliath'. My yell for Dah stopped him right away."

Castiel couldn't help but laugh at the story, he could imagine perfectly a young Balthazar and Dean, the story playing out in his minds eye. He could see young Dean with his grey dress pants with a clean pressed white shirt, a little bit of dirt on his cuffs and knees; little Balthazar with black dress pants and a blue shirt, cleaner than Dean, but still a little messy. Their blonde hair tussled, eyes shinning in the sunlight, maybe even some cookie crumbs on their lapels from Sunday school snacks. Deans eyes would be full of mischief, Balthazar's full of panic from the on coming doom of another rock to his head.

Castiel couldn't imagine a better picture of family in his life. It filled him with a kind of loneliness, a longing for a family of his own that he could share memories with.

"If you tell it that way you make me seem like a psycho child who wanted nothing else other than to hurt his brother. What really happened was we had just learned about David and Goliath in Sunday school and I wanted to see if a stone could really bring down a giant, and Balthy was the only giant that I knew. For a nine year old he was huge! I mean, almost five and a half feet tall already. I had to see if the stone would work, and apparently it did, although he didn't die, that was a disappointment."

Castiel and Balthazar laughed, the rest of the party turning around, wondering what was going on back there that could be so humorous. By the time that the story was over Sam had come back and joined their party, hearing the end of the story and chuckling along with Castiel and Balthazar.

"What about you Sammy? Got any childhood stories that you would like to share with us?" Dean looked up at the giant, a smile on his face.

Sam's face parted in a grin, laughing at the memory before he even told it. "There is something that you should know before I tell this story. I was always a quite kid ad never really got into trouble when I was young. It was only when Jo was born that I started to get into trouble. When she was two and I was three we had just gotten into a lot of trouble, we had stolen the neighbor's bikes and thrown them into the river behind our house. This was the first time that I had done something really bad, the fiftieth time that Jo had done something like this so my parents decided that they would try the same punishment that they used on Jo on me. She always loved being around people so they would lock her in a room for a few minutes, and she would go crazy. Yelling, screaming, beating on the door, the whole package. So when they put me in a room by myself, they thought that I would react like Jo. After half an hour of pure silence they decided to come and see what was going on. When they opened the door they found me sitting in the corner playing with a dead fly."

Dean, Balthazar and Castiel just stared blankly at Sam for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

In between convulsions Dean managed to gasp out, "You were playing with a dead FLY?"

Smiling Sam let out a "Yep" popping the 'p' at the end.

Following his brothers lead Balthazar said, "You name it anything?"

Blushing Sam muttered, "Buzz" and when the whole group started laughing harder he frantically added, "But that's not the point!"

Slapping Sam on the back Dean shook his head, his laugh finally dying down, "Thanks Sammy. I'm never going to forget that."

The four men exchanged stories for the rest of the hike, all laughing together over the foolishness of their childhoods and the intelligence of a child. As a child Castiel had been convinced that he was going to be an older brother because there was a stork that lived in the pond behind his house. Dean bested him by saying that he believed that the tooth fairy came and pulled all your teeth out at the same time and built a castle underneath your bed so that they could come back when your next set of teeth grew in.

They spoke of hobbies and interests, political views and where or not they thought that the current tension in Europe was anything to be worried about. Sam said that precautions should be taken, just in case. Balthazar thought that if anything came from it that it would be over in a moments notice. There wasn't really anything to worry about.

Their conversation was cut short as a bright glow directly ahead of them grabbed the attention of all the men.

"What is that?" Balthazar spoke what they were all wondering, Castiel flipped through the journal to see if it could provide any answers.

"It says here that it is the gateway and protection of Atlantis." Castiel looked up at the glowing orb hanging several hundred feet over their heads, the mysteries slowly adding up.

"Well what ever that thing is, it better not keep me up tonight, or I am going to be hell to live with." Dean shrugged his pack off, throwing it to the ground.

"Like you're not already?" Balthazar couldn't leave the opportunity to tease his brother open like that.

"Oh ha, ha. You're fucking hilarious." Dean started pitching his tent, not bothering to erg his brother on.

That night was a less awkward as Castiel was able to refrain his enjoyment of Bobby's food, no matter how delicious it was. Sometimes meat and potatoes were all that you needed to make you feel better.

That night they went to bed instantly, the strain from the last two days taking its toll on the men. Well, all of the men except for Sam. He lay there with his eyes shut, trying to block out the glow from the roof. He rolled over, trying to hide his face in a shadow so that he could get at least a little bit of darkness. Nothing worked, not even the eye masks that they were given on the first night could shut out the sheer amount to light that was coming from the ceiling.

Sighing Sam got up, giving up on his chances of falling asleep. He walked out of the camp, not wanting to disturb anyone from their slumber. As he walked out of the camp, Sam got a nagging feeling that he was being watched. Turning, Sam looked around him, the feeling not going away as he was certain that he was alone.

Putting his hands in his pockets Sam walked a good distance away from the camp, getting lost in his thoughts. He hadn't left his family on a good note. He had just left his fiancé of three years that his parents had set him up with. He had finally gotten the courage to stand up to his parents and cut off the engagement before it got too serious, well before his parents started planning the wedding. Jess was a wonderful girl, she was beautiful, intelligent, and a pleasure to be around, but he wasn't in love with her. In fact, Jess had come to him a few weeks before Sam broke off their engagement and confessed that she was in love with someone else, which made Sam's decision to cut off their engagement that much easier.

His father was furious, his mother understanding. She was disappointed, which was far harder for Sam to bear than his father's anger. John said that he would grow to love Jess, just like Jo had grown to love Ash. Sam knew that was a lie, that Jo and Ash had subtly given their parents the idea that they should be engaged to each other, as they had been secretly seeing each other for years, Sam being the only one wiser to that fact. Sam didn't think that it was a good idea to bring this up to his father, it would get him in more trouble and break Jo and Ash up, and Sam couldn't do that to them, so he sat through the verbal lashing and kept his mouth shut.

It was when his father called him a disappointment that Sam snapped. He was perfectly fine with his father tearing him apart, but when it got to a certain point he couldn't take it anymore. This turned into a full out argument; even a few vases were smashed. Sam stormed out of the house, vowing to never come back if he was such a disgrace to his father, if he wasn't a good enough to be a son to him. Sam hadn't seen his father since then, hadn't seen any of his family as they were forbidden to see him ever again.

Sam had never felt so alone before. But he still had Castiel, Brady and Jess, his only friends in the world. He was never going to tell them about what had happened, but it was nice to know that they were there for him no matter what.

A small insect landing on his arm brought Sam out of his thoughts. Looking down at it, Sam could have sworn that it was a lightning bug; it's form almost an exact resemblance of the ones that he tried to catch when he was a kid. There was one difference though, and Sam noticed it right away, it was the color that it glowed. The bug had started off as a pale yellow, the soft glowing lighting up the folds of Sam's sleeve. Then the glow started to change, slowly becoming a deep crimson, almost a blood red. Sam's sleeve started to heat up and Sam's confusion lasted only a second before the fabric burst into flames. Yelling Sam wiped the flames and bug from his arm, putting out the flames and killing the bug in the process.

A loud humming drew his eyes to the orb above the camp, he watched as it simultaneously turned from yellow to red, pulsing with the movement of the bugs. Regaining his senses Sam ran towards the camp, yelling the entire time.

"FIRE! FIRE!"

A few head poked out of tents, hands rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, a couple of mouths smacking the taste of morning breath off of their tongues. Eyes grew wide as the first couple of bugs landed on a tent, sending up in flames not a second later. Suddenly the camp was alive with movement, people grabbing what ever they could before they ran for the bridge in front of them, the only escape from the hell burning behind them.

Sam noticed Castiel and Dean running with the mob of people making their way toward the bridge. They must have seen him running back towards the camp and his name was yelled out above the noise of people running for their lives.

Castiel and Dean had seen Sam running towards the camp and Castiel stopped to go after him. Dean grabbed Castiel's arm and tried to drag him towards the bridge, ignoring Castiel's attempts to go back for his young student.

"I am not leaving him behind! Let go of me Dean!" Castiel shook his arm from Dean's grasp and ran back into the blaze after Sam. Dean sighed and ran after him, not letting the teacher get out of his sight.

Sam ran straight for his tent, which had thankfully been spared for the moment. Ducking inside Sam grabbed his bag, flinging it on his shoulder he backed out, running back towards the bridge.

Castiel saw Sam running back towards him and let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding. Sam was all right.

Castiel turned and starting running back when Sam had passed him, Dean doing the same when they had finally caught up to him.

Nothing could slow the men down on their race of their only escape, not even the cracking coming from the ceiling. Most of the company was crossing the massive stone bridge that crossed what seemed to be a bottomless gorge. The cracking intensified until a rumble shook the cavern. Everyone was on the bridge by now, most close to other side, close to their safe haven.

But they never made it.

The orb on the ceiling dropped, breaking the bridge in two and crushing whom ever was underneath it. The bridge sagged, tilting towards the gorge below. The men lost their footing, falling down the bridge into the darkness below. Being at the end of the bridge, Dean could see man after man fall into the darkness, knowing that was his fate also. There was no way that they could make it back up the bridge, the incline was to steep for that, and there was noting to hold onto, no way to escape their fate.

Sam was the first to slip, his footing was poor to begin with, and with the added slope it was only a matter of time for him. He fell on his back, sliding a couple of feet before he managed to turn on his stomach, fingers clawing at the bridge, trying to find a hand hold anywhere. He looked up for a moment, his eyes terrified, before he was consumed by the darkness.

Dean watched as Sam disappeared, his shock slowing down his reaction time. That was why Castiel had managed to fall before Dean had realized it had happened.

"NO!" Dean yelled out and dived after Castiel, refusing to let one more person out of his sight. Dean was able to catch Castiel's arm, pulling him towards him and into his arms. He gripped him tight and didn't let go, not even when they were consumed by the darkness, not even when he was sure they were going to die, not when they finally hit something solid, not even when he was sure they were dead.

Dean wasn't going to let go. He wasn't going to lose everyone; he didn't want to be alone. Not again.


	7. The golden boy with all the toys

**A/N: Well aren't you all just lucky son's of bitches. A chapter a day keeps the boredom away. Well I'm finished the story, so I'll update whenever I get a review. Consider yourselves lucky. I could update when ever, and I have a terrible memory.**

**I don't own Supernatural, if I did there would have been at LEAST one Destiel sex scene before the end of season 4.**

"…-ean…"

"…Dean…"

"DEAN!"

Dean sat up quickly, shaking his head as he did so. He couldn't see a thing; the darkness was once again absolute.

"DEAN!"

The call snapped Dean out of his stupor, making him yell his own response, "Sam?"

His arms were wrapped around a motionless lump, all fabric and bone. Turning the bundle in his arms, Dean tried to remember what it was, what was so important to him that he had to keep it with him as he fell to his death. The bundle moved, clueing Dean into the fact that it was alive.

"Dean? Where are you?"

Sam's call came from what seemed to be a great distance away, it's message hard to understand as it echoed off of walls multiple times before Dean could hear it. "I don't know! Are you hurt?"

The bundle moved again, letting out a groan as it shifted.

"Yes! I can't move!"

Clutching the bundle tighter Dean tried to stand up. "Stay there! I'm coming for you!"

As Dean rose the bundle groaned again, this time louder than before. "Put me down."

"Cas?" Dean was a little shocked, but put him down anyway, placing him carefully so he wouldn't hurt him anymore than he already was.

"Dean! Hurry!"

Trying to make out shapes in the darkness Dean moved towards the voice. "It's okay Sammy! I'm coming!" Turning back to where he believed Castiel was he asked, "Will you be okay?"

Castiel rolled to his side, clutching his ribs, "Yes, I'll be fine. Go find Sam."

Dean nodded, not realizing the foolishness in such a motion and headed off, trying to find his injured friend.

While Dean was stumbling around trying to make his way to Sam, Sam was lying on the ground, his leg trapped under a fraction of the bridge, crushed beyond repair. He still had his pack on his shoulder, but that was the least of his concerns.

Sam sat up, placed his hands under the boulder and pushed, trying to roll it off of his legs, not caring that it was making the injury worse. He was going to lose the leg anyway, why not rip it off by accident in the meanwhile? With a yell Sam pushed as hard as he could, but the boulder didn't move an inch.

Letting out an exhausted gasp Sam flopped back down to the ground, his blood loss finally catching up with him. Light headed, Sam started to see the edges of white crawling into his vision, the only color other than black that he could see. Knowing that he was going to pass out soon, Sam tried to find the most comfortable position he could while he waited for Dean to come and find him.

The sudden jarring motion of the boulder being moved off of the remainder of his leg forced Sam to open his eyes again. There in front of him, basking in the faint glow of, something, was a man, single handedly lifting away the rock. Sam watched in awe as the boulder moved, it wasn't being shoved, it was rising off his leg, taking the pressure off with every inch that was revealed. Sam wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not, but it was one of the best hallucinations he ever had.

After the boulder was completely off of Sam's leg, the man let it go and rushed over to Sam's side, the glow following him as he moved. It might have been from the blood loss, but Sam could have sworn that the man was an angel. His honey blonde hair cast a halo around his head, and the hazel of his eyes were flowing rivers of gold. The light seemed to be radiating out of him, coming off in the forms of six wings on his back. The light seemed to be warmer than sunlight, more comforting than a mother's embrace; it even smelled like rain and new book pages. Now Sam knew that he was hallucinating, you can't smell light, can you?

The man was at his side, fussing over his leg. Sam looked down and saw that he had pulled out a blade and was currently cutting away at Sam's pant leg. Slicing the fabric open to the knee, the man put the blade away, slipping it away somewhere that Sam couldn't see. Placing his hands on Sam's leg, the glow suddenly traveled down his arms and into Sam, a sharp pain resonating through his body quickly followed by soothing heat. When the man took his hands away Sam's leg was fully healed, it was exactly as it was before, there wasn't even any lingering pain what so ever.

Sam was shocked, his body frozen as he took in the miracle that had just occurred to him. Unfortunately the man scampered away, taking the pause in Sam's motion as his queue to exit.

"No! Wait!" Sam made a motion to stand up, but apparently his blood wasn't something that was healed, as he was still light headed and fell right back down as he tried to stand up.

"Sam?" Dean's voice carried over to him, Sam not caring as he watched the man run away, slowly fading from his view.

"Yeah?" Sam turned and faced Dean, his face slowly being consumed by shadows as the man ran further and further away, taking his light with him.

"Hey, I saw the light and I had to make sure you were okay. Are you? You said you were hurt?" Dean put his hands on Sam's shoulders, holding him back as he checked him in the diminishing light, finishing right before the light fully disappeared and the two men were thrown back into darkness.

"I'm fine. Now." Sam shoved Dean's hands off his shoulders; looking over his right one longingly at the last place he saw the light go, his heart longing to follow it into the unknown. "Let's go find whoever else survived the fall."

Dean was confused, but he tried to hide it with a smile, "Sure. Let's go Sammy."

A small light guided the men back to the wreck, the flickering light of the match not enough to show everyone, just those within a two-foot radius. The match moved towards a wick, one from probably the only lantern that was able to survive the fall. The flame magnified, spreading the width of light to ten feet, enhancing the creases in men's faces, accenting the despair etched on their souls. Looking around Dean saw Castiel leaning on the shoulder of Balthazar who was busy bandaging up his side, muttering words of encouragement the entire time. Bobby and Crowley also survived, and judging by Crowley's mood, his explosives hadn't. Lucifer and Michael were also okay, busily discussing what was going to happen and what their next move should be.

"So, were are the only ones who made it. The original crew; we are either really lucky, or really unlucky." Bobby's gruff voice echoed with ease, bouncing off the walls with striking importance. They were all that was left, the only ones to survive the trip to Atlantis thus far.

"So Castiel? Where do we go from here? I'm assuming you know, your are the bloody expert." Crowley's voice was harsh, blaming, and angry.

A sharp intake of breath introduced Castiel before he spoke, "Sorry to disappoint, but I have no clue where we are. The other side of that bridge was supposed to be the entrance to Atlantis. This was never discussed in the journal."

"We could always follow the glowing man." The whole group turned and looked at Dean, the look of 'Are you fucking kidding me?' on everyone's face.

"Excuse me?" Lucifer didn't seem like he was willing to put up with anyone's shit right now, Dean's least of all.

"The glowing man, the one who was running away from Sam before, right Sam?" Dean turned to Sam for support, for the conformation that he needed.

"Yes. There was a glowing man, and he seemed to know where he was going. I think that it would be a logical answer to follow him. There are no other options." Sam decided that it would be a good idea to leave out the healing part; a man glowing was a hard enough pill to swallow.

With a dignified sigh Lucifer said, "Alright. Let's follow the glowing man." Motioning, he moved for Sam to lead, still retaining his power while letting the other man take over.

Sam started walking, his leg giving him no trouble what so ever. He was baffled by the events before, what kind of power did these people have that enabled them to heal others? What was this amazing source of power that was so acclaimed to the Atlantians, that made them the most powerful race known to mankind before their mysterious disappearance?

The hike was filled with silence before, as per usual, Balthazar broke it with his questions. "So, this man, he was glowing?" The snicker in his voice was hardly contained, Sam rolling his eyes at the older man.

"Yes he was glowing. Now if we can all act like adults here that would be greatly appreciated."

Balthazar shrugged, "Sure, sure. Did a beam of light also come out of the heavens along with the chorus of a million angels?"

Dean came up behind Balthazar and shoved him, "Hey! Be nice. He wasn't the only one who saw the glowing man."

"Hey, get off it. I was only having a little fun on Sam's expense. No offense intended." Balthazar put his arm around Sam's shoulders, grinning the entire time.

"None taken." Sam tried to smile back, Balthazar's grin was creeping him out a little bit.

"So, was it all of him that glowed, or just certain parts of his anatomy, if you know what I mean." Balthazar received a chorus of 'boo's' and rocks. While trying to dodge the flying objects he promised to lay off Sam. "Okay! Okay! I'll stop! Bloody hell! I don't need another rock to the head."

Chuckling Dean leaned over to Castiel as whispered in his ear, "Yes he does." Castiel let out a laugh; a rock to the head probably would help the elder Smith.

"Here!" The cry drew the men's attention to the front of the group, Lucifer standing at the entrance of a tunnel, the only light coming from the lantern, the tunnel showing no signs of an end.

The group stood there, waiting for someone to make the first move, no one willing to make it. Lucifer was the first to move, "Cowards." He walked in, Michael close on his heels. The light was moving deeper into the tunnel when suddenly it was gone.

The group exchanged looks, not sure whether or not to enter the tunnel until they heard "Sweet Mary mother of God." The rest of the men couldn't move fast enough.

Castiel was the first to break through the tunnel, turning the corner that cut out the light that was a promise of hope. At the exit of the tunnel he froze, the sight taking his breath away. Dean ran into Castiel, not able to stop in time before he took out the smaller man in front of him. Luckily the other four men were able to stop before they ended up in the pile on the strangely grassy floor.

After a bit of a struggle, Castiel and Dean rose to their feet, not taking their eyes off of the awe-inspiring sight in front of them.

Rising from the surrounding water, right in the middle of the lake, was enormous city, easily twenty-five kilometers in diameter. There were buildings the ancient equivalent of skyscrapers, all over three hundred feet tall. The city was shaped like a cone, the taller building in the center, their heights slowly diminishing as they moved from the middle until they were but ten feet tall, the height of normal homes for those of lower status. At the very center of the city was the tallest building of them all, one that rose over five hundred feet and spanned almost the same distance.

Waterfalls surrounded the entire city, the water pouring into the surrounding lake that it rose out of, the flow never ceasing, never seeming to fault. There was a source of light, not the sun as the city was in a cavern, a closed off sanctuary from the outside world, but something else, another glowing light source that could not be seen but was known to be there.

Castiel could have stared at the city for ages, never moving, never needing anything other than the sight feeding his body. Unfortunately, Castiel never got that opportunity as the group suddenly found them selves surrounded by what seemed to be a legion of warriors, armed to the teeth with spears, knives, and shields. They wore armor of many different metals; some were made of bronze, some steel, and the leader wearing one that seemed to be made of gold. The armor consisted of breastplates, shin plates, and wrist guards. Each person had matching tunics, pure white that shone just as brightly as the air around them, each person glowing their own personal color. The people were flawless, graceful, and proud. The leader stepped forward, clutching his blade, his golden eyes burning. They scraped over each of the foreigners until they landed on Sam. The burning gaze faltered, letting out pain and confusion before quickly hardening again, their mistake not easily replicated.

Turning to the group, eyes moving over each person, not lingering on anyone, the leader spoke. "Et es a jubeleta. Lets al jubeleta."

The group of travelers all looked at Castiel, the expectations clearly written on their faces. Castiel cleared his throat, quickly trying to put his rudimentary knowledge to work. "Yo say et es suberea. Quid loqui."

The leader's demeanor slowly softened; taking a step forward he spoke again, "Nos loqui omnes."

Castiel smiled, "Parlez-vous Francais?"

The leaders eyes brightened, "Oui monsure."

Sam's eyes light up, "Sprechen sie Deutsch?"

Smiling at Sam the leader replied, "Ja."

Lucifer pushed to the front of the pack, taking over the situation right away. "If they can speak all that, maybe English is in there somewhere." Straightening, Lucifer addressed the Atlantians. "We are explorers from the outside world who have come to find your world."

The leader put his knife away; it disappeared in the same fashion that Sam had seen earlier. "Welcome," his arm sweeping out to display the city behind them, "to the city of Atlantis."


	8. In Days of Trial

**A/N: Pretty sure that this could go on forever, so I am breaking the deal. Ah well, it wasn't meant to be. Working on another story right now so the updates will be later.**

**The only thing I have to do is buy the rights and then I can say that I own Supernatural. Only a couple million left to go.**

The group of outsiders followed the Atlantian's deep into the city, passing all types of people watching as they travelled towards the center of the city. It slowly became harder and harder to move as they approached the center, the roads becoming more crowed and busier. There were people trading, yelling and selling, the city seemingly thriving in their own little way.

Once the streets got too crowed, the leader of the Atlantians yelled, parting the streets immediately. Dean whistled low, leaning over to Castiel he whispered, "What was that?"

Castiel whispered back, "Royalty."

Standing back to his full height Dean looked at the short man leading them through the streets of Atlantis. He was about half a foot shorter than him, but he carried himself with a sense of dignity and self-importance. The people nodded to him as he past, giving him greetings and small tokens like fruit or bread. He took each with a smile and a returning phrase, sometimes even a kiss. Dean could tell that the people loved him.

The group eventually came to a large set of gates; they were twenty feet tall and quite menacing, the intricate designs had carved into the walls spoke of wealth and power. The only thing that made these less imposing was the fact that they were open and hadn't seemed to be closed in a long time.

The crew was then ushered towards that throne room, past statues of past and present leaders, of hero's and of myths. The statues modeled the Greek era, the marble carved with skilled hands. The craftsmanship was extraordinary, the statues seemingly capable of stepping down from their pedestals and walking among the mortals surrounding them. The throne room could only be approached from the front, the room large and empty, leaving no places for intruders to hide. The room was sparsely furnished; there was a large marble chair, draped with several deep purple, green, and blue sheets. If Dean had to guess at what they were made out of, he would say silk, though they seemed to shimmer with each changing angle, taking on a slightly different shade than before. A table was placed in front of the throne, carved out of black wood, so perfect it looked like onyx; the wood seeming like it had been poured into its shape. It was a flawless piece of craftsmanship, a tribute to the power of the king. The room was pristine and white, sparkling in the light that seemed to come form everything in the city.

There in the throne was an old man; his chocolate hair was lined with silver that reflected in the sun. His beard was finely trimmed, his attire matching the over all manicured appearance. The man was also dressed in a white tunic, but his was interwoven with a multitude of colors, a different one showing with his movements. His feet were sandaled, his hands grasping the armrests of his seat giving him the appearance of the great god Zeus, an almost perfect replica of the statue at Olympus.

Dean must have noticed this fact as he once again leaned over to Castiel and whispered, "Dude, he looks exactly like Zeus."

The man in the throne turned his eyes to Dean, his gaze piercing. "Where do you think they got the idea?"

Dean ducked his head, turning his eyes away from the great man in front of him. The short Atlantian going up to the man on the throne and whispering in his ear saved Dean from further scrutiny. The great man nodded and motioned to the guards behind him. Standing, he spoke, "Come. My son believes that you are trust worthy, we shall discuss your intentions over dinner."

The man walked down the center of the room, exiting through the double doors located at the end. He was followed by his guards, then by the Atlantians, then finally the crew of _The Garrison_. As they walked out, the short man grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him to the side, dragging him into the corner of the room.

"What is the matter? Did I do something wrong?" Sam watched with weary eyes as the rest of his friends walked out of the doors trailing behind the king.

The shorter man grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him through the servants tunnel, hidden behind the throne. "Come. I want to show you something."

Dragged behind the little man Sam tried to pull back but to no avail. "I don't even know your name."

The shorter man stopped, turning his head to face Sam. "Gabriel. They call me Gabriel." Turning, he started to drag Sam again, the taller man helplessly falling behind him.

"I'm Sam, if that makes a difference. Shouldn't we be following the others?" Sam let him self be dragged along, not really caring where they went.

"My father wouldn't care if one of the travelers was missing. Besides, it's boring, political matters that is. I would rather be doing something useful with my time," Gabriel stopped and looked at Sam, his eyebrows raising, "wouldn't you?"

"Well yes, but-" Gabriel pulled Sam after him again, cutting his sentence short.

"You talk a lot don't you?"

Sam laughed, "Well not as much as Balthazar, that man never shuts up."

Gabriel dragged Sam along for a few more feet before he let Sam's hand go, letting his own drop to his side. Once they were at the end of the tunnel Gabriel led Sam out of the walls of the palace and out of the city, bringing him to the farmland that was on the outskirts of the island. There Sam was lead to ruins, ones that were far older than anything he had seen before in the city.

"What is this place?" Sam looked around with wide eyes, his curious side kicking in.

Gabriel walked up to a pillar and laid his hand on it, his face showing the grief that he felt. "This is all that remains of our once great library, even greater than that at Athens. We stored so much knowledge that one could not read it all in a lifetime, even that of an Atlantian. But it was destroyed when our city fell, the knowledge of our people dying along with our race."

Sam came around Gabriel's back, his eyes focusing on the pillar before him. "So what did you bring me here for? I have no knowledge on the city of Atlantis, that is the reason why we are here. To learn about your culture and see what we can bring back to our world."

Gabriel turned and looked at Sam, "You came here based off the descriptions in a book did you not?"

Sam titled his head just a fraction, "How did you…?"

Gabriel waved his hand, "The tall scholarly one had it sticking out of his pocket. Not very hard to connect the dots, it had script on the front that I had only seen here, so it must have been Atlantian." He walked back to the pillar, his fingers tracing over the script on the pillar. "I thought that you would have been able to read the script too. You have the look of one with intelligence."

Sam chuckled nervously, running his hand through his hair, "Well, I can understand most of it, but Mr. Novak's knowledge is far better than mine. You should have gotten him to look at it."

"So you can read it?" The hope in Gabriel's voice was that of a child, all promise and trust.

"I would say so."

Gabriel came behind Sam and put his hands on his back, pushing him towards the pillar. "Read it for me."

Turning his head to face Gabriel Sam asked, "Why? Can't you?"

Gabriel turned his face away, staring into the distance. "No. No one can. Not since the destruction of the city."

"What happened?" Sam couldn't help it, he was curious, and that was one thing that he had no control over; his curiosity controlled his life.

"We were once a great nation, rulers of the ocean called _Atlantic_. We formed a confederation with the people groups around us, making us more powerful than we were before. The leaders of Atlantis at that time were power hungry, they wanted the known world for themselves, and so they attacked everything and everyone. Quickly taking over the entire known world, the Athenians railed together all of Greece to free themselves from our rule. The Athenians knew that they would have no chance defeating us, facing our army head on was foolish, even with our small numbers. The Athenians decided to attack the city of Atlantis, where our forces were weak and poorly trained. The journey across the sea shrunk the Athenians forces, leaving them by themselves to attack our proud city. Their forces were meet with a fierce battle, the 500 soldiers of Atlantis taking on the 2500 Athenian warriors. The Atlantians were winning; the Athenians never stood a chance. Suddenly the city began to shake, a glowing force surrounding the city and all its inhabitants. The Athenians fled, leaving the city but running straight into destruction. The ocean opened up and swallowed Atlantis and the surrounding islands, killing all within 50 miles of the city. Our city was saved, protected by what we called 'grace'. It is the source of our life, or our power, it is what makes us different than the people around us, and it is what keeps us alive even now. This is what you have come for, is it not?" Gabriel had been staring at the pillar the entire time he told the story, his question making him swing around and face Sam, his gaze was full of judgment.

"Yes, we have come for this 'grace' but not to take it, but to understand it. We want to replicate it so we can save the world, it holds the answers to every question, the cure to every disease. It is the miracle that humanity has been praying for their entire lives." Sam's speech did not seem to sway Gabriel, his gaze still untrusting. "What can I do to make you believe me?"

The king lead the group to the dinning hall, a vast room filled to the brim with tables and chairs, all surrounding one central table, the one where the king obviously sat. This was the table that the group was seated, each placed evenly around the king, beside and across.

After being seated, the king spoke, his voice ringing even through this chamber. "So my guests, it seems that we have a lot to talk about." Balthazar scoffed at this, ducking his head when he was hit with about a dozen disapproving looks. The king continued, "My name is Iorek, I am the third king of Atlantis, given the throne when my father stepped down two thousand years ago. You have met my son, Gabriel. He was your guide through the city and the future heir to the throne. Atlantis was once a great city, it's power stretching to every corner of the world. Several millennia ago we were attacked, the Athenians believing that we had grown to strong, that we were to be stopped. During the battle our source of life appeared in the form of a great sphere, hovering above the city. A wall of power came from it, surrounding the city and all of its inhabitants. With a powerful quake the city sank, engulfed by the ocean, never to be seen again, destroying all those who were not within the wall. That was the end of our rule, the end of our memory. The world has forgotten about us, and we the world; that is, until you arrived. Now answer me, what is it that you want?"

Lucifer cleared his throat and began to address the king, his level of respect just enough not to get him thrown out of his presence. "We have come to study your life source your grace, to develop one like it that we can bring back to the surface world. To save it, so to say."

The king scoffed at this, "There is nothing that our power source can do for you. You cannot control it; it is a living thing with a mind of its own. We can only direct its power through our bodies, channeling it so to say. I would strongly advise that you do know try to harness it, that would be very unwise."

The king's ending sentence was far to ominous for Balthazar's curiosity, so he had to ask, "Why do you say that?"

Iorek turned and faced Balthazar, his eyes troubled. "We tried before, the end results are ones that we have tried to forget for centuries. An attempt at harnessing the power will never happen again, not as long as Atlantis stands."

Lucifer cleared his throat, seemingly out of nervousness, the crew of _The Garrison_ knowing better. "Would we be able to see it, just to know what kind of power that we would be dealing with?"

Iorek contemplated Lucifer's suggestion, his brows coming together. With a nod he consented, "You shall be shown the origin of our grace. But I warn you, it is not for the eyes of the weak."

Castiel's small voice piped up, the first time that he had made a sound around the king. "Grace your highness?"

Addressing the frightened young man the king nodded, "Yes, grace; the source of our power. You do not think that we were only the religious example for the Greeks do you? No, we are what the Christians called angels, the creation of God."

Iorek then released his grace, revealing the wings of light on his back. They were stunning, three pairs of wings, one large pair in the middle with two smaller ones framing them. The wings sparkled, shinning in their own light. They came off as the color of midnight, not quite black, but to dark to be blue. The wings covered the entire room, filling to enormous space with their form. They were solid, the flight feathers as long as a mans arm.

The room was stunned silent, each person longing to reach out and touch them. The silence remained, each person staring at the beauty in front of them. Balthazar finally spoke what was on everyone's minds. "Holy shit."

Gabriel stared at Sam, his eyes boring deep, seeming to read his mind. Sam shifted uncomfortably; the depth of Gabriel's gaze was making him feel far to vulnerable.

After a few seconds Gabriel turned his head, staring out across the ruins. "There is something that I need to show you, something that you have to read."

Gabriel led Sam through the ruins to the edge of what seemed to be a small pool, the bottom far beyond the sight of a normal human being. Without a hesitation Gabriel dived into the pool, sinking below the surface before Sam had a chance to respond.

Sam stood at the edge of the pond, not knowing what to do. His eyes searched the surface, looking for any sign of the Atlantian. Half a minute later Gabriel's head broke the surface, his golden hair plastered to his head. "Are you coming?"

"Oh! Right." Sam fumbled around of a second, pulling off his shirt, shoes, socks and pants, then jumped into the water right after Gabriel.

"Follow me." Taking a deep breath Gabriel dived beneath the water, Sam copying his actions immediately.

The pair swam towards the bottom of the pond for what seemed to Sam's oxygen deprived lungs like forever. Just before Sam thought that he would drown due to his lungs need to inhale something, Gabriel guided him to a small cavern, one that had a small pocket of life saving air for Sam's poor lungs.

The moment that Sam broke the surface he inhaled, his lungs sucking in the stale oxygen that they found.

"Are you alright?" Gabriel's concern shocked Sam for a second, but shaking his head he reassured Gabriel that he was fine. "It's this way." Gabriel took another deep breath, going out of the cavern and leading Sam to a wall of the pond, a massive drawing covering the majority of the space.

Sam's eye widened at the amazing sight, the detail and beauty of this one drawing was more than he had ever seen in his life before. All throughout the painting were words, lining, travelling, and encasing the picture. Gabriel was pointing at the center of the picture, the focus point of the entire wall. There was a glowing orb, the one that Sam assumed was the glowing force that Gabriel had told him about. The glowing orb was not drawn with the usual strokes of a painter, but by the words of an author, the picture formed of a story. So this was what Gabriel had brought Sam to see, he wanted to know answers as much as Sam did.

Sam pointed up, motioning towards the cavern once again. The two of them swam together, ending the precious bubble of air at the same time.

"So, did you read it?" Gabriel's hope was toxic, the sheer amount of it enough to kill a lesser man.

Sam shook his head, "I didn't have enough time, but I got the main idea. I should be able to read all of it if we go down one more time, but I will need more light. It is to dark to see the finer script."

Gabriel nodded, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the light."

The two men swam back to the wall, pausing before the massive image. Gabriel's face relaxed, his eyes closing. Suddenly he began to glow, the light reaching all corners of the pond. Sam caught himself staring, shaking his head he turned towards the wall, wasting the precious breath that he had left.

Gabriel watched as Sam read the wall, his mind baffled at the human in front of him. He had always seen humans as weak, inferior to the great race of Atlantian's, but this human was different. There was something about him, something about the way that he wasn't willing to give up, that he was willing to fight for what he wanted. Gabriel respected that about the human, he even found it honorable. And yet, there was something else that he couldn't put his finger on, something about the energy coming off of him, like there was something that he just couldn't see, but could feel.

Gabriel was brought out of his thoughts when Sam's face became panicked. Turning to Gabriel he motioned upward in a panic, swimming upwards without waiting for acknowledgment from Gabriel. Sam reached the cavern before Gabriel, waiting with nervous energy before Gabriel's head came into view.

"Sam what-" Gabriel didn't get to finish before Sam's hands were grabbing his shoulders.

"Gabe, we have to stop them. They can't go to the grace." Sam took a breath and went to dive beneath the surface but Gabriel's grip stopped him, pulling him back into the bubble of air.

"Slow down a second there, what do you mean we've got to stop them? What did you read down there?" Gabriel wasn't letting go of Sam, his grip getting tighter and tighter with every passing moment of silence.

Taking a deep breath Sam fired off in rapid succession, "We have to stop the crew from entering the chamber where the grace is kept. Before something terrible happens again. And we have to go now." Sam added that as an after though, hoping that it was enough to make Gabriel let go of his arm. Apparently it was, as the Atlantian let go of Sam and followed him out of the cavern, swiftly following the human as he swam in a panic towards the surface.

Iorek sat down, his wings disappearing just as swiftly as they appeared. There was a moment of silence before Lucifer spoke again.

"So that is an extension of your grace, or the grace itself?" Castiel was surprised that Lucifer was the one who had all the questions; he had never seemed to be interested in the mission before. His interest seemed sudden and almost too curious.

Iorek looked at Lucifer, "The wings are an extension of our grace, the rest of it flows through us, in every part of our body, intertwined in what makes us."

Placing his hands on the table Lucifer leaned forward a bit, "So you couldn't drain a person of their grace like you could their blood. You would have to destroy the person to get rid of their grace."

Iorek nodded, "Yes. You cannot rid someone of their grace without killing them." The king's voice seemed to drop at that, his eyes clouding over with his own private thoughts.

Lucifer shifted in his chair, rubbing his hands together, "How does one get this grace? Or are you born with it?"

The king's eyes cleared once again, his attention back in the room. "All of the Atlantian's were born with their grace, each with a set of their own wings."

Balthazar was the one who brought up the next question, rather rapidly too. "Can you fly?"

The king laughed, "No, but we can teleport short distances. It does leave you drained though."

Lucifer perked up at that, "Drained? Using your grace takes energy?"

"No, only the larger tasks take energy; such as teleporting." Iorek seemed to be enjoying explaining this to the men, his smile growing with every sentence.

"Would you mind taking us to the grace now? I think that my interest is truly peaked." Lucifer leaned back in his chair, putting his hands on the side, ready to stand up when given the word.

Iorek stood, the rest of the table following his motion. As the king left, the rest of the table following, Dean grabbed Castiel's arm, dragging him to the side of the room as the others left.

"What is it Dean?" Castiel's eyes went from Dean to the group that was rapidly moving out of his sight.

"Please tell me that I am not the only one who found Lucifer's actions suspicious." Dean was holding Castiel against the wall, his arm pushed against Castiel's chest. His face was a couple of inches away from Castiel's, impairing Castiel's ability to think.

It took some quick thinking on Castiel's part to not only understand when Dean had just said to him, but also a response that would be adequate for the question that he was given. "Yes, he did seem to be a little off, didn't he?"

Dean was looking out at the group, giving Castiel a great view of his profile. Dean's mouth was moving, but Castiel was not listening. He was to busy looking at the way that Dean's mouth moved with the formation of every word that he said; the way his lips curved as he spoke. Dean seemed to be moving in slow motion, his mouth the only thing Castiel could pay attention to.

Castiel was so engrossed in Dean's lips that he did not even notice that the man was now shaking his shoulders, trying to get his attention.

"Cas! Are you even listening to me?" Dean was facing Castiel by now, his eyebrows drawn together, his face stern.

"Of course." Castiel didn't want Dean to know that he had been ignoring him.

"Then lets go." Dean let go of Castiel, walking out after the others. Trying to recall what Dean had said to him, Castiel followed, panicking slightly as his mind came up blank.

Dean hurried forward, trying to see where the group had gone while avoiding thinking about the way that his arms tingled where he held Castiel, his blue eyes boring into his mind with ever thought that **was not** based on him. Standing at the intersection of two hallways, Dean looked left and right, catching the swish of fabric at the end of one.

"Come on! This way." Dean ran down the hallway, hearing Castiel's footfalls echoing after him.

Lucifer walked directly after the King, not caring if the guards kept giving him glances the entire time. Lucifer was not afraid of them; his focus was on the grace and what it could do for him. The king never said anything about being able to receive grace; maybe he could get some himself. Imagine the things that one could do with grace in the real world.

The group arrived at a large set of doors; carved stone so high that three men could have easily stood on each other's shoulders and not reach the top. Placing his hands on the doors, Iorek pushed, the doors swinging inward easily. Glancing at each of his guards, the king nodded, and the guards stood at the entrance, making sure that no one came in or got out.

Lucifer and Michael were the first to enter the room, pitch dark except for the glowing sphere in the center of the room, easily ten feet across at its widest point. The sphere kept bubbling and shifting form, its size or shape never remaining the same.

Bobby and Crowley entered next closely followed my Balthazar. Shutting the doors behind the travelers, the King spoke. "Beautiful is it not?"

Bobby scoffed, Crowley interpreting, "That's a bit of an understatement."

Michael's eyes were glued on the orb, his eyes reflecting the light, seeming to glow with it. He took a step forward, fixated on the glow in front of him. Lucifer grabbed his arm, hissing, "Michael, what are you doing?"

Michael ripped his arm out of Lucifer's grasp, running towards the orb, launching himself inside the sphere.

Lucifer screamed, his arm reaching out towards Michael, his feet following him. It took Bobby, Balthazar, and Crowley to stop him from jumping after Michael, Lucifer struggling and yelling the entire time. "Michael! You son of a bitch! MICHAEL!"

His words were consumed by a sharp buzzing resounding through the chamber, becoming sharper and sharper as it magnified. The four men collapsed, their hands clutching at their ears, blood seeping through their fingers. The light from the orb intensified along with the buzz, blinding the men as they tried to hide their faces while covering their ears.

Just as the light and sound came, it disappeared. Lucifer was the first one to look up, his face a mask of pain. "Michael?"

Standing in front of him was Michael, his eyes burning with the light of the orb, his body shinning with the power of grace. Michael laid a hand on Lucifer shoulder, lifting his face towards his. "I'm sorry Lucifer. I tried."

Sam and Gabriel ran down the hallway, slowly getting closer and closer to the chamber. Gabriel said that the source of grace was there, that was where he could find the crew and stop them before they did anything that they would regret.

Sam stumbled as the ground shook beneath his feet, Gabriel grabbing his arm before he hit the floor.

"Oh God, no." Sam got his feet under him, running with a newfound strength.

"What is it? Sam!" Gabriel's voice carried after him, his feet slapping on the floors as he followed him.

Sam turned the corner, a light glowing underneath the doors of massive proportions. Sam banged his fist against the door, shouting, "Open the doors! Let me in!"

A sudden buzzing made Sam stop, his hands reaching up to cover his ears from the piercing sound. By this time Gabriel was at his side, his hand resting on Sam's shoulder as his face contorted into a look of confusion and then sheer panic.

Dean and Castiel ran down the hallway, the door within their view. They did not stop or even slow down as they say Sam and the short Atlantian run to the doors, Sam pounding on them and yelling.

Dean ran as Sam fell to his knees, hands on his ears. It wasn't until Dean himself heard the noise that he stopped running, his hands instantly going to his ears to force the noise out.

Dean doubled over, his face pained as his ears began to bleed. Stopping at his side Castiel grabbed Dean's arm, pulling him towards the door. "Come on Dean, we are almost there. Why are you stopping?" Castiel tugged on his arm again before Dean fell to his knees, his head hitting the ground.

"Dean? What's wrong?" That was when Castiel heard it, a whispering coming from the room.

_It's too late. _

_There's nothing you can do._

_It has begun._

_Come to us._

Castiel ran towards the door, pushing on them as the words chanted through his mind. Each sentence putting more panic into his heart.

_You can't save them._

_They are all going to die._

_You can't save them Castiel._

_You must die too._

With a final pulse the light and words stopped, one last warning given to Castiel before he passed out, his form lying before the doors like a sacrifice.

Gabriel stood outside the doors, looking at the bodies lying around him. "Great, what am I supposed to do know?" With a sigh he put his hands underneath Sam's limp form, sitting his body up against the wall, careful to keep all his limbs in the proper places.

As he was fumbling over Sam, the mammoth of a man let out a groan, his head rolling to the side as Gabriel's head snapped up, his hands flying to the sides of Sam's head.

"Are you alright?" Gabriel was studying Sam's face, as if he could see the inside of his head and was making sure that it was all right.

"We didn't stop it Gabe. I couldn't stop it." Sam was avoiding Gabriel's gaze, his eyes finding the door over and over again.

"There was nothing you could do kiddo. Now sit still so I can make sure that you are okay." Gabriel went back to fumbling over Sam, his hands pushing and prodding different parts of him to make sure that nothing was broken or injured.

Shoving Gabriel's hand off Sam shook his head, desperate to get his message across to the Atlantian. 'You don't understand Gabe; none of us are okay. We've started the destruction of Atlantis."


	9. The Beginning of the End

**A/N: Sorry guys, but this part got a little weird on me. I don't know how it happened, but it just came out like this. Sorry if it changes your view of the story, but I couldn't help it.**

**I don't own anything, but if I did, I would be Batman by now. Don't think about it to hard.**

Dean awoke to a dark and barren hallway; the only thing other than him was the black mass before him. His ears were no longer working; the ringing seemed to have temporarily deafened him, maybe even permanently.

Dean struggled over to the mass, turning it over to get a better look at it. Dean found himself once again holding the unconscious form of Castiel, his limp form falling in his arms. Running his hands over Castiel's face Dean tried to wake him up, slapping his cheeks every one in a while, calling his name out, slowly becoming more panicked as Castiel did not respond.

"Cas? Can you hear me?" Dean shook his shoulders one more time, the anger growing in his voice. "Damn it Cas, answer me!"

Castiel convulsed, his torso seizing as he struggled to breathe. His eyes opened wide, the fear shinning from their depths. Castiel's hand gripped the front of Dean's shirt, almost ripping the fabric from his chest.

"Cas!" Dean grabbed his face, turning it towards him; Castiel's blue eyes open wide in confusion and terror. "Don't you ever do that to me again, do you understand me?"

Castiel nodded slowly, not speaking, his mind still catching up from being unconscious. Dean sagged a little bit, all the tension coming out of his body. Castiel took that opportunity to get up, turning his body into Dean's to push off of, not a necessary action but Dean did not seem to mind.

Castiel rose to shaky legs, Dean rising beside him and holding onto his arm, giving the support that his body needed. Castiel's vision went down the hall, back to the door that had started it all. "We have to save them," turning back to Dean Castiel's eyes were desperate, "Dean, we have to save them."

Dean steeled himself and walked towards the door, placing a hand against it, he pushed, the door swinging open easily. There inside the room was the rest of the crew, the King lying dead on the floor, Crowley and Bobby watching Balthazar fuss over the body. The biggest surprise was the middle of the room, where Michael lay cradled in Lucifer's arms, the bigger man shouting at the body in his arms, Michael seemingly unresponsive.

"Why Michael? What was so damn important that you had to jump?" Lucifer gripped Michael's body tighter, the limp form crushed against his chest. "Why did you have to go and leave me?" Dean could swear that Lucifer had started crying, tears running down his face as he cradled his friend, his hands fisting Michael's hair.

Castiel had walked in behind Dean, looking over his shoulder; he caught the same sight, his heart breaking at the image before him: the dead king of Atlantis and their broken captain clutching the body of his Lieutenant.

Balthazar left the King, placing his regal head on the floor before he stood, walking over to Lucifer and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You need to let him go Lucifer, he's dead."

Lucifer turned on Balthazar, his eyes burning with fury. "If you know what is best for you, I suggest that you let go of me." When Balthazar didn't make a move to do so Lucifer let out a hiss, his eyes igniting. "NOW."

Balthazar with drew his hand, snapping it to his side. His eyes turned to Dean, the pain there breaking his brothers heart. The two brothers exchanged looks for a few moments, the shaking of the chamber bringing them out of their own special form of communication.

Castiel's voice caused Dean to turn, Castiel's face turned towards the ceiling, small pieces of rock falling down from it. "We have to go, before the roof collapses on us."

Lucifer lifted the body to his shoulders, the extra weight not hindering him at all. Bobby and Crowley both carried the King, thinking that the city of Atlantis deserved to give their king a proper funeral. They all ran out of the chamber, the rest of the palace shaking as they ran through the hallways.

Reaching the end of the hallway a powerful tremor roared through the palace, collapsing the roof and crushing any that were underneath.

Sam and Gabriel were running to the towers, giving out shouts of warning to any near them, telling them to run for their lives. Most ran after them, but there were those who resumed their tasks, ignoring the cries of the prince and outsider.

Reaching one of the guard towers, Sam took the stairs three at a time, his long legs racing up the stone steps. Gabriel was able to match his pace, only taking two stairs, as he was significantly smaller than the giant he ran next to. At the top of the tower Sam burst into the room, startling all who were present.

Sam stood there for a second, his mind frozen by the dozens of eyes that were staring at him. Thankfully Gabriel came to his aid, shouting in Atlantian at the guards, their reactions instant. Two of the scrambled to the bell that hung in the middle of the room, grabbing large hammers and beating them against the side, the bells low tone ringing out clear and strong across the city, there was not a single corner that was free from its sound.

The other guards ran out of the room, making their way to other stations to continue the warning.

Sam continued to stand in the middle of the room, his eyes following the movement around him but his body remaining perfectly still.

"Sam, we need to go." Gabriel's panicked voice reached out to Sam, trying to regain his attention, even for just a second. "Sam! We need to go! Now!" Gabriel was now tugging on Sam's arm, refraining himself from tearing it out of its socket to get his mind back into reality.

The jerking motion of his arm got Sam's focus back on the world that was slowly crashing down around him. Watching Gabriel pull on his arm one more time, Sam looked at the door, his mind putting together the connections. He had to get out, before the room collapsed around him.

"We need to get to the palace court yard, it's closer than the outer wall." Gabriel started to pull Sam by his arm again, stumbling as the taller man slowed him down. "What is the point of those gorgeously long legs if they do nothing but hold me down?"

Sam's face morphed into a look of annoyed determine, and he sped up, taking over Gabriel in a few strides. "Now that's more like it," Gabriel laughed, running after that sexy behind.

The two men made it to the courtyard, the ground rumbling beneath their feet. Stopping in the middle of the open garden Sam looked around frantically, the warning bells still ringing.

The ground shifted and Sam grabbed Gabriel's arm, trying to regain his balance. Another rumbling and the dirt shifted again, causing Sam to pull Gabriel to the ground with him. On the north side of the courtyard a bright glow started to emerge from the ground, growing brighter and brighter as it rose. It was a large sphere of light, bigger than three men. The sphere rose to the sky, pausing hundreds of feet in the air. Spinning faster and faster a wall of energy came out of it, slowly encircling the city.

Sam watched, his gut dropping with each second. "We're too late."

As the dust settled there were echoed coughs traveling through the closed off hallway. Lucifer knelt, covering Michael's body with his own. Extending his back, he looked down at the body, his eyes tearing with the combination of pain and dust.

Lucifer could hear Castiel's desperate cries for Dean, but they didn't faze him. He could see Balthazar running to Castiel's side to calm him down, but Lucifer didn't care. It didn't even matter that Bobby was throwing rocks off the broken body of Crowley and the King. Nothing mattered, he failed Michael, he wasn't able to save him, he couldn't keep his promise.

Pressing his forehead to Michael's Lucifer whispered, "No Michael, I am sorry. I didn't try hard enough."

Closing his eyes, Lucifer tried to block out the memories, not wanting to relive a single moment.

"_I'm sorry Lucifer. I tried."_

_Lucifer's face collapsed into confusion, his mind trying to grasp what Michael was saying to him. Lucifer watched with grim confusion as Michael walked into the middle of the chamber, his glowing footsteps fading as he moved farther and farther away. _

"_Michael!" Lucifer called after him, trying to reason with him, "What are you doing?"_

_Michael stopped in his tracks, turning towards Lucifer he began to speak, "Once again this city has been threatened by the outside world, by the world of man. We must be preserved; the race of Atlantians must be kept sacred. The city must be hidden again." And with that Michael started to walk back to the middle of the room, the Michael that Lucifer knew was gone._

_The sudden running of the King startled Lucifer, his head following the determined sprint of the older man. Just before the King could reach Michael, the glowing man turned, holding his hand out. A flash of blinding light filled the chamber, causing Lucifer's eyes to smart for a few seconds after. The King was lying in a heap before Michael's feet, his vacant eyes looking down at the fallen man below him. "This cannot be stopped. Those who try shall surely die."_

_With few grim steps Michael made it to the middle of the room, lifting his head he closed his eyes, breathing out. A pillar of light shout out of his body, the sphere rising from his form. Lucifer could see Michael's face contorted in pain, his silent screams reaching deaf ears. Lucifer couldn't tear his eyes away, watching the life and light leave his friend. _

_The sphere reaching the top of the ceiling, passing through, the light leaving with it. The chamber was thrown into darkness, a faint thump of Michael's body falling to the ground. Crawling towards the body Lucifer whispered, his heart filled with too much hope, his mind filled with too much doubt. "Michael?"_

_His fingers found the body, gripping the fabric they found with fiery determination. "Michael? Can you hear me?" Pulling the body towards him Lucifer clutched him tight; squeezing what life he could into him. "Michael! Answer me solider!" _

_Lucifer broke, unable to believe that his only friend was gone, "Michael, please. Don't you leave me, don't you dare leave me."_


	10. And Warmth Creeps In

**A/N: And the weirdness continues. I think I was in a mood or something when I wrote this. **

**Anyway, shout out to Aliniah, they wanted a new chapter quick, so here it is.**

**I wish I owned Supernatural, cause then I could afford to get my typewriter fixed. But it's still sitting on my porch, broken.**

The sphere continued to rise, the wall spiraling towards the outskirts of the city, slowly encasing it in the foreign energy. The loud whirring had come back, Sam covering his ears, tears streaming down his face. This was it, the end of it all. There was nothing that he could do, these people where lost, and it was his fault.

The whirring echoed through the hallway, those who were still responsive covered their ears while Castiel stood up straighter, listening to what the voice was saying.

_One life for them all._

_Give up yourself and save them._

_A sacrifice that will please all._

_A sacrifice of love._

_Now Castiel, it is time._

_Give yourself up, join us._

Castiel followed the voice, ignoring the confused cries from Balthazar. He didn't notice Lucifer following him, walking in his shadow, silent as the voices in his head, his body as empty as Michael's.

Castiel walked into the courtyard, moving right underneath the sphere. Lucifer's eyes widened at the sight, he wasn't going to let this happen again, not after Michael. Taking a few running steps forward Lucifer talked Castiel, crashing into the ground with a sickening thud.

Castiel turned under Lucifer, shooting his a gaze full of hate. "What are you doing? Get off of me!"

Trying to shove Lucifer off, Castiel put his hands on his shoulders and put all his strength into it, not budging the wall of a man above him.

"What do _you_ think you're doing?" Lucifer placed his hands on either side of Castiel's head, pinning him down with his body, and his knees on either side of his hips.

"It wants a sacrifice, a love sacrifice. It has to be me or everyone will die!" Castiel struggled against Lucifer, doing all in his power to get the man off of him.

There was something going on behind Lucifer's eyes, something that Castiel couldn't recognize. With a quick flick, Lucifer's eyes were on Castiel, a cold shiver ripping down Castiel's spine. A bulky fist raised itself and fell on Castiel's head; Lucifer's pain the last thing that Castiel saw.

Blinking his eyes Castiel moaned at the ache in his head. His gaze focusing he saw Lucifer, his arms out stretched, yelling inaudibly at the glowing light above the city.

Castiel realized what was happening a few seconds too late, his yell caught up in the pillar of light shooting down and entrapping Lucifer. His eyes and mouth light up, seemingly burning up from the inside out. The blue wall was sucked back into the sphere, channeling down into Lucifer. With a final pulse Lucifer collapsed, the sphere and wall gone.

Castiel crawled over on his hands and knees, timidly reaching out to touch his body. "Don't touch him!" Sam's voice jarred Castiel in his reach, snapping his hand back to his side. Castiel hadn't noticed the boy lying there, as still as a statue.

Sam crawled over, placing his hand on Castiel's shoulder, pulling him away form the body. "We don't know what will happen if you touch him."

It seemed that the city had not handled the earthquakes well as the ground shifted again, the walls shuddering, threatening to collapse with each tremor. Sam stumbled, his hand falling on Lucifer's chest as he tried to regain his balance. Gabriel shouted, his voice echoing off of the walls. Sam's eyes opened with fear, a glow slowly making its way up his arm. Castiel tried to pull Sam off of Lucifer, but his arm seemed to be attached to the body beneath it, no matter how hard he pulled it made no difference; Sam was stuck.

The glow travelled up Sam's arm, the boy pulling away as hard as he could, his eye wide with terror and panic. Once the light hit Sam's shoulder it spread down his torso on his face, Sam struggling to get away with every fervent breath. The light took over his face, his eyes illuminating while the rest of his body began to glow. Once the light hit his heart Sam doubled over, hands clutching at the beating organ. The light completed its course, covering his entire body; it pulsed once then disappeared, leaving the quivering boy on the ground, body shaking with sobs.

Gabriel ran to his side, muttering Sam's name the entire time. "Sam? Sam can you hear me? Answer, Sam!" Gabriel surrounded his body, gently stroking his sides as he called out to him.

Sam lifted his head, a look of sheer confusion plastered on his face, "Gabe? What happened?"

Gabriel seemed as confused as Sam before his face fell and a smile took over. "You're one of us now Sam. You've got your own grace."

Sam looked down at himself, an ecstatic joy running through his system. "Does that mean I have wings?"

Gabriel nodded and Sam's face light up. Scrunching his eyes together Sam concentrated. After a few seconds a bright pair of wings burst from Sam's back, their bronze hew shinning through the entire courtyard, casting shadows on everything around them. Sam's joyous eyes meet Gabriel's, their stare long and full of unspoken words.

Castiel watched silently from his spot, the possibilities running through his mind; what if he touched Lucifer too? Would he get grace, could he resurrect Michael and Lucifer, and heal Dean? Moving while Gabriel and Sam were still staring longingly into each other's eyes, Castiel reached Lucifer's body, hand reaching out to touch it. When Castiel's hand touched the body, he expected something to happen, anything to happen, but he was sorely disappointed. It seemed that it was a one shot deal, and Sam had beaten him to it.

Turning back to the eye-fucking contest that was going on beside him, Castiel spoke, "Does that mean that Sam can heal people?"

Gabriel's head snapped up, his eyes flashing mistrust. "How do you know about that?"

Castiel swallowed uncomfortably, Gabriel's gaze burning into him. "Iorek spoke of it when we were conversing together. Would it be possible for Sam to heal someone, or even bring someone back from the dead?" Castiel added the last part with all the hope he could muster.

"We cannot bring people back from the dead, that simply cannot be done. But it is possible that Sam would be able to heal, seeing as he can fully manifest his wings." Gabriel's eyes flicked back to Sam for a second before moving back to Castiel.

Castiel turned to Sam, his eyes pleading, "Could you heal Dean?"

Sam nodded, rising to his feet. "I could try."

Dean awoke, his body aching everywhere. Coughing out a mouthful of blood, Dean turned his head, his body still unresponsive. Taking in the situation around him Dean saw that he was caught under the collapsed roof, everything from his armpits down covered in the chunks of fallen rock. Dean was on his stomach; he had dived to get away from the collapsing roof. Dean tried to take a breath, choking on his own blood as he attempted at taking in the much-needed oxygen.

Dean knew right away from the pain coursing through his chest, and the lack of pain anywhere else, that his chest was crushed and his spinal cord broken. Placing his hands on the ground beside his head, Dean pushed up, a yell coursing though his body along with the white-hot surge of pain. Collapsing to the floor Dean knew that he couldn't try again, his body just wouldn't let him.

His breath was labored, his vision fading fast. There was darkness chasing the white that surrounded his view of the tunnel. His hearing was gone, the first to go during his process of passing out. He didn't hear the footsteps echoing down the hallway, Castiel's voice yelling out, telling Dean to just hold on a little longer. He was out before Castiel was at his side, Gabriel and Sam appearing after Sam got the hang of teleporting. He didn't feel Sam and Gabriel's combined graces flowing into him, bones mending, cuts healing, blood clotting. Dean knew none of this; all he knew was the light surrounding him, keeping his warm when the cold was edging just a little bit to close.

Dean let go, succumbing to the warm and light. He was in bliss, and it was perfect.

**A/N 2: Yes, dived is a real word. No it is not dove, that is an animal, that's it. Dove is not the past tense of dive, dived is. Deal with it.**


	11. It was a drizzly Tuesday

**A/N: I guess I should have warned you about character death. Well better late than never, there's character death!**

**There should be a poll on my profile about the next story I should post. If it's not there tell me, I don't really know how to work this thing. **

**I am getting no money from this; I don't own characters or plot. Although I memorized plot, I don't own it. **

**Five Days Later**

Castiel sat staring at the bed, his hands fisted together, pressed against his mouth. His glasses sat on the side table, forgotten in his worry. It had been far to long for Dean to be unconscious, Balthazar kept telling him that it would take time, but Castiel wanted Dean to open his eyes now. He longed to see those green eyes open once more, to see the sparkle that was reflected in them every time they landed on Castiel.

Balthazar walked into the room, his head dropping down when he saw Castiel. The timidly went over to Dean and did the typical checks, just making sure that he was still fully functioning.

Cold. There was something cold and Dean didn't like it. It was breaking up his cocoon of warmth and he didn't like it one bit.

Balthazar moved the stethoscope from one side of Dean's chest to the other, checking to make sure that his lungs were receiving the same amount of air.

A muffled wheezing came through his stethoscope and Balthazar paused, placing his hand on his ear to make sure that it wasn't inside noise coming in.

"…cold…" That time Balthazar was sure it came out of Dean.

"Cassie!" Balthazar practically threw himself at Castiel, grabbed his arm and dragged him to his brother's side. Castiel leaned down and took Dean's hand in his.

"Dean?" Castiel's eyes were welling up, the tears flowing over the brim.

Dean shifted, gripping Castiels hand tighter, "Cold."

Castiel almost laughed; taking Dean's face in his hands he gave him a bruising kiss, nearly squishing his face into Dean's.

Balthazar stood beside the bed, a blanket clutched in his hand, shifting uncomfortably as he watched Castiel practically eat his brother. Clearing his throat, Castiel took the queue, backing off of Dean and stroking his face one more time.

Balthazar gave Castiel the blanket and he wrapped it around Dean, carefully tucking it in around his sides. Dean gave Castiel a weak smile and a slight chuckle, "What happened Cas? I turn five again?"

Castiel punched Dean in the arm playfully, not caring at the moment that he just woke up; he was obviously fine from the way that he was teasing him.

Everything seemed to be perfectly fine.

"No Gabe! I am not going to say it again!"

Sam was tired of this argument, but Gabriel wasn't giving up. "Sam, a look from you and I would fall from grace." Gabriel had his hands gripping the front of Sam's shirt, demanding the attention of the taller man.

"Gabe! This is just the heat of the moment, you can't mean what you're saying!" Sam was practically yelling at the smaller man, his hands on Gabriel's.

"I mean every word Sam! I won't let you leave, and if that means going to the surface with you, I am willing to do it!" Gabriel's face was grim with determination; he wasn't going to let this giant of a man go.

"Gabriel, I am not going to let you become human for me! I'm not worth it!" Sam's knuckles were going white; his grip was that tight on Gabriel.

Knowing that his words were getting him nowhere, Gabriel moved his hand from Sam's shirt, Sam's hand still attached, and placed it on the back of his neck, dragging the moose's head down to his level. Their lips met, Sam groaning at the contact. They kissed for what felt like forever, the two of them moving in tandem.

Finally Gabriel pulled back, his eyes boring into Sam's. "You are worth more than you will ever know."

Sam knelt his forehead against Gabe's, his voice low enough for Gabriel to hear, "I'm staying Gabe, and that's final."

**Two Weeks Later**

Misha was standing in the middle of his mysterious library, a bundle of photos in his hands. Shifting through them, Misha asked, without even glancing up, "So, what happened to Lucifer and Michael?"

Bobby shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the suit that he was in a little too stiff for his liking, "Missing, idjits."

Misha glanced up for a second, "Sam?"

No one spoke; the silence was beyond uncomfortable. Finally Crowley cleared his throat and said, "Killed by a rock slide."

Misha put the pictures down on the side table, clasping his hands in front of him, "And the riches?"

Balthazar spoke this time, "From a few artifacts that we found on the ocean floor. Beautiful, many different museums wanted them for themselves; it was a full out bidding war-" A sharp elbow to the side shut him up, "Royalties."

Misha turned his back to the group, staring into the fire, "Castiel and Dean?"

Castiel laughed, letting Dean drag him to the top of the mountain.

"Wow," Castiel let out a gasp; the view was beyond breath taking. He was standing on top of one of the five volcanoes in Costa Rica, one of their many stops in their worldwide adventure. The volcano was still active underneath his feet, the magma heating up the ground below him. His entire view was lush green, only the ocean breaking up the limitless sight.

Dean's arm wrapped around him from behind, pulling him into his strong chest. Putting his head on Castiel's shoulder Dean whispered, "So what do you think?"

Castiel couldn't tear his eyes away from the beauty that was before him,

"It's perfect."

Dean chuckled, the vibrations from his chest traveling into Castiel. Castiel practically purred, leaning back into the warm expanse of his lover. There was nothing more perfect than his life right now. Nothing.

Sam was holding onto Gabriel's hand, watching the tears run down his face. It was Gabriel's crowning ceremony, and he couldn't have been more distraught about it. Everything that was happening only brought up more painful memories for Gabriel, memories that Sam couldn't share with, but was more than willing to listen to.

The two of them were standing in the throne room, Gabriel just vacantly staring at his fathers throne.

"The first time that I was in here, I was only four years old." Gabriel knew that Sam would listen, he always did. Sam squeezed his hand for him to continue, giving him the reassurance that he needed. "I had snuck in through the servants entrance and was playing on his throne, climbing up the back and sliding down the fabric on to the floor. I was on my tenth round when suddenly the door burst open, causing me to slip. I was falling from the top of the chair when I was caught, strong arms grasping me and lifting me from my doom. Looking up I saw the face of my father, expecting the worst; I thought that he was going to yell at me. Instead he putted me in closer, saying over and over again that he wasn't going to let me go and that nothing was going to happen. Not on his watch."

Sam watched Gabriel re-tell the story, his eyes filling with tears at the sight of him. Gabriel turned to him, eyes over flowing with sadness, "He was going to protect me forever. He was never going to leave."

Sam pulled Gabriel into his shoulder, letting the smaller man cry into his shirt. Stroking Gabriel's hair, Sam whispered nonsense into his ear, simple words of comfort to calm the man down.

Once Gabriel's tear had ceased, he lifted his head, giving Sam a soft sad smile. "You ready?" Gabriel nodded, wiping his face and clearing it of any trace of his misery.

Taking a deep breath Gabriel took Sam's hand and led him out the doors, walking it their kingdom for the first time.

**A/N 2: I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. It was Tuesday when I wrote it, and now it's Tuesday as I post this. Oh, it was too good to avoid. Once again, I'm sorry.**


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